The Missing Tale
by Lilac1100
Summary: A side story to my other fic Tale of Half a Heart. Lilac was abandoned by her parents along with her older sister Xayomi. Now they are being raised by a Keyblade Master. What adventures await them? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing! **

The Missing Tale

My story starts off with an elderly keyblade wielder. His name was Master Byan. He lived in an old castle far away from any other world he had taught a couple of apprentices over the years but he was getting older and was considering retiring. But that all changed over the course of one night.

It started off as a normal night. Master Byan was heading off to bed late one night when there was a quiet knock at the door. He was confused on who would be there this time of night especially in the pouring rain.

He slowly walked over to the large wooden castle doors and pushed them open at first he didn't see anyone but when he looked down he saw two children! The eldest one couldn't have been more than two she had short blond hair in two pigtails and was wearing a plain red dress and no shoes. She appeared to be struggling to hold a baby wrapped in nothing but a thin pink blanket. Looking closer he noticed the baby had a half a heart necklace around her neck.

The Master fearing the baby being dropped reach over and took her from the oldest girl. She looked up obviously scared for her companion's safety. To show her he meant well he kneeled down to her level and gave her a warm smile.

"Hello young one are you alright? Where are your parents?" he asked.

"Are you Mwaster Bwyan?" she asked her words slightly slurred for being so young.

"Why yes I am." He said with a smile.

The girl pulled out an envelope from under her dress and handed it to him.

"My mommy told me to give this to you."

Master Byan took the letter and put it in his pocket.

"Well why don't you two come inside and warm up by the fire while I read this okay?" he asked.

"Otay." She said slowly taking his hand.

As Master Byan lead them to the library he asked the girl a very important question.

"So what is your name dear?"

"Xayomi and she is my baby sister Lilac."

That baby was me.


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing! **

The Missing Tale

After we entered the library Master Byan settled Xayomi down on the floor near the fire while I was laid down in a chair. Master Byan then sat down in the opposite arm chair and proceeded to read our mother's letter.

I never learned what the actual letter said until years later. All Master Byan ever told me was that our mother said that we had the ability to wield the keyblade and had begged him to train us. Though I always knew he was hiding something. And Xayomi once said to Master Byan (while she thought I was asleep) that she remembered our parents. Yet no matter how much I brought it up she never said anything.

Years past while we stayed with Master Byan. Xayomi grew to be very independent and stubborn and she was very protective over me. I on the other hand grew to be very shy I was always scared of speaking out of turn. Xayomi was truly the only person I was ever truly close too.

I was about five years old. I was sitting in Xayomi's room watching her brush her hair after training. I always thought my sister was more pretty than me she had long blond hair and beautiful blue eyes. While I was stuck with brown hair and eyes. I sighed more loudly than I intended. Xayomi looked at me through the mirror and beckoned me over. I slowly crossed the room to her bed and sat down next to her she was riffling through her dresser drawer. When she finally found what she was looking for she motioned me to turn around. After a few minutes she smiled at me and handed me the mirror.

In my hair was a dark green ribbon.

"You look beautiful Lilac." She said smiling at me.

"Really?" I asked shocked.

"Absolutely."

After that I never took that ribbon off I even started calling it my lucky ribbon.

But then strange things started to happen.

Every night when we went to bed both Xayomi and I would have odd dreams of people we don't know or places we never seen. But we simply passed them off as that dreams so we never thought of mentioning them to Master Byan. But then we started having them during the day they would happen randomly one minute were training the next we were waking up on the ground.

Master Byan was worried about us but he had no way of helping us. He suggested that we recorded our dreams so he could see what he could do.

I ended up recording my dreams by writing them in my note book that I always carried around with me and Xayomi took up drawing her dreams in a sketch book. Every so often the Master would come and ask us about our visions. Today was one of those days.

I was in the library writing in my journal. I had a vision last night and I was busily writing down what I saw. In my dream I saw a man and a woman they both had hoods on so I could not see their faces. Each of the adults were holding a baby and the women was holding the hand of a small girl with blond hair and blue eyes. I could not get a good look at the babies before I woke up but I did notice that both babies had a half a heart necklace that if you put them together it created a whole heart and the weird thing was that one of the necklaces was the exact same one as the one my parents left me with before I went to live with Master Byan.

At this time Master Byan came into the room and requested to see my journal. As he read my latest story his eyebrows furrowed and a frown was etched into his face. Once he finished he gave me back my journal and walked away.

That night I went into Xayomi's room she was sitting on a stool painting a picture of a castle. I then started telling her about my vision as I went on I noticed her warm smile disappeared and she stopped painting she did nothing but stare at the canvas.

"And the weirdest part was that the babies had necklaces just like mine." I said pointing to my necklace for emphasis. "What do you think it means?" I asked.

At first Xayomi didn't react she just continued staring at the canvas tears welled up in her eyes but she blinked them away. She turned and smiled at me.

"I don't know baby." She said stroking my hair. "Why don't you go play outside for a while. I'll meet you shortly."

"Okay." I said walking out of her room that was odd she never reacted like that to my visions before. But being so young I thought nothing of it so I just shrugged it off as nothing and went outside.

**Well guys that's it for part 2. Part 3 coming soon! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3! I own nothing! **

The Missing Tale

"Lilac! Lilac!" shouted eight year old Xayomi running towards me.

"What is it Xayomi?" I asked clutching my notebook closer to my chest.

"Master Byan requested our presence in his office." She exclaimed grabbing my arm and dragging me towards Master Byan's door.

"Hey I can walk by myself!"

"I know but you walk to slow."

We eventually arrived at Master Byan's office. Xayomi then (finally!) let go of my wrist and knocked on the door.

"Come in girls." We heard him say from the other side of the door. As Xayomi opened the door I looked around I had never been in Master Byan's office before. It was filled with shelves and shelves of books it was like a second library but in the center of the room was a wooden desk and behind it was Master Byan.

"Come along girls take a seat." He said gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. I could tell by the tone in his voice that this was serious so we quickly scurried into the chairs.

"Girls as you know for about a year now I have been having you record your dreams. And after much research I have come to a conclusion for the cause." I was very surprised I had actually given up hope for finding a way to stop my visions but could there actually be a way? " Now do either of you remember the lessons I gave you about the keyblade war?"

I raised my hand shyly.

"Yes go ahead Lilac."

"The keyblade took part in ancient times it was when a bunch of keyblade masters started fighting over the light, then darkness found its way into people's hearts. The darkness spread swallowing the worlds until there was nothing. But then the hearts of children saved the light and restored the worlds. But they were no longer whole." I explained.

"Very good Lilac. And as you both know light and darkness are equal one can not survive without the other." Master Byan started. "That's why there is both light and darkness in every heart-"

"Except for the princesses of heart. They are the only people who have hearts of pure light." Xayomi interrupted.

"Correct. Now as I was saying in every heart there can be more darkness or light but both must exist." He continued.

"Girls have I ever told you of the guardians of balance?" he asked. We both shook our heads surprised by the random question.

"Well the guardians of balance are a very mysterious group. According to legend during the keyblade war the guardians were the ones who guided the children together to restore the worlds. They say that there will only be fourteen guardians in the worlds. Now it is said that to tell if someone is a guardian they must first have a completely balance heart, the same amount of light and darkness. But they must also have a gift. The legend says that there were seven guardians and they all had the power of elements."

I cleared my throat. "Um. Master Byan I don't mean to interrupt but what exactly does this have to do with us?" I asked ducking my head to avoid eye contact.

Master Byan chuckled. "You see girls I have good reason to believe you both are guardians of balance."

There was a long silence until Xayomi said. "How do you render that master?"

"Well as I said a guardian must have a balanced heart and after years of surveillance on your hearts I can say without a doubt that you two do have an equal amount of both light and darkness." He said. Then there was another pregnant silence.

"Master you said that all guardians have "gifts" well what are ours?" I asked.

"Well I believe your visions are showing you your gifts. So by looking through what you have seen I have come to the conclusion that Xayomi you have the power to see the present." He paused and decided to explain because we were both clearly confused. "After seeing your pictures it appears that you can see what is going on in other worlds at the present time despite the fact you have never been there." He explained. He then turned to me and my heart started pounding. "Lilac you have the power to see the past. You are able to look back to your past and see the previous events you have lived through. But not just yours you can also see the past of others close to you." He explained.

The past. I thought. I then recalled my dream of the two babies with necklaces like mine. Could of that been MY past. Maybe the necklaces weren't like mine maybe one was mine! That means that those adults were my parents! And now that I thought about it that little blond girl did look like Xayomi! And that other baby could … could that have been my sibling? Could I have another brother or sister out there?!

The more I thought about it the more excited I got. I looked over at Xayomi with a big grin on my face. But my smile flattered Xayomi did not smile she looked like she was about to cry like she did when I first told her about my dream. I frowned why was my sister acting this way?

"Now girls I am sure you have questions, but I have work to do so if you please." he said gesturing towards the door. As we left the office I turned towards Xayomi.

She smiled and tapped my arm. "Tag your it Lilac!" she shouted running off.

"Hey!" I shouted chasing after her my questions long forgotten.

Months past the fact that we were guardians did not seem to affect our lives as much as you would expect. The only thing different was that we started learning a lot more about the keyblade war.

I groaned as I got out of bed. It was winter and had been snowing all night and I in my stupidity left the window open. So to say I was cold was an understatement. I walked over to my calendar and my eyes widened. In my grogginess I had completely forgotten what day it was! Today was December the 25th Christmas. With a huge smile I ran out my door and down the hall to Xayomi's room.

"Xayomi? Xayomi! Wake up! Wake up!" I shouted jumping on her bed.

"Ugh. Lilac go back to bed." She groaned pulling a pillow over her head.

"But it's Christmas!" I yelled giggling. (Hey I may have been a quiet child but I was still a kid)

Xayomi shot up with a start. "Well let's go!" she shouted. We then ran down the stairs and into the library. It was beautiful. Covered in top to bottom with decorations we set up the night before and a Christmas tree so tall it almost touched the ceiling! Master Byan then got out of one of the chairs by the fire place and approached us.

"Hello girls. Merry Christmas!" he said.

"Merry Christmas!" we shouted.

"Now I wonder do you suppose Santa ate those cookies you made for him?" he asked. With wide eyes we raced over to the plate on a small table by the fireplace. Sure enough the cookies were gone.

"Can we open our presents now?!" Xayomi asked.

"Please." I added ignoring Xayomi's red face.

Master Byan chuckled "Of course go right ahead."

Santa had brought us many present toys, crayon, books, etc. We then passed out gifts to each other I gave Xayomi a purple bag I bought in another world and I gave Master Byan a copy of one of my visions it was about a man and his four apprentices. And I don't know what it was about but I felt compelled to give it for him.

Xayomi then gave him a picture she drew of the three of us. Then she gave me a bracelet with alternating purple and teal (my favorite colors!) beads. She called it a "sister bracelet." When I questioned her on it she admitted she made it up, but it meant that no matter what she would always be there for me.

"Now girls I have some gifts for you as well." Master Byan said going behind the tree and coming back with two boxes. He then handed one to each of us. Mine had red wrapping paper and a green bow while Xayomi's had green paper and a red bow.

I inspected my present turning the box around and gently shaking it that was until I heard the box whimper. With wide eyes I slowly opened the box. Inside was a small puppy! She was white with a small yellow patch on her ear and tale. I picked her up and stared at her we stood there for a while just staring at each other. Then she leaned over and licked me in the mouth!

"Ew!" I squealed wiping my mouth but the puppy just barked happily and wagged her tail. I looked to Xayomi to see her cuddling a small grey kitten.

"Thank you Master Byan!" we yelled together getting up and hugging him.

"Your very welcome girls! So what are their names?" he asked.

"I'm calling him Scat!" shouted Xayomi holding the cat up.

"Scat the cat?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep!"

Master Byan chuckled. "Well Lilac what are you going to name her?" he asked.

I looked down at the small puppy and smiled.

"Darling. Her name is Darling."

**Part 4 coming soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I own nothing! **

The Missing Tale

Years past and before I knew it I was eleven years old. Xayomi and I were outside in the training yard. Xayomi was working her magic while I was practicing blocking. Darling and Scat were outside too Darling was lying down on the grass and it looked like Scat was trying to make her play with him.

The palace doors opened allowing us to see Master Byan approaching us. We paused in our training in order to face him. His face looked hallow it showed no emotion but when I looked into his eyes it was clear he had been crying and they still held much sadness. Something was seriously wrong.

"Girls…I have come to a decision. As you know I am getting quite old and I have decided that I can no longer train you anymore."

"What!" I gasped.

"But Master we can still live here right?" Xayomi said hopefully.

"No, you can't. But I have found places where you can stay and train." He said.

'PLACES!' I thought as in two different areas?

"Lilac you will be going to live in the Land of Departure with my old friend Master Eraqus and his three apprentices, and Xayomi you will be going to live in Radiant Garden with Master Ansem." He said with no emotion in his voice.

"What! You can't honestly do this Master?" Xayomi shouted.

"I can and I have."

"No! You can't separate us! She's the only family I have you can-"

"Enough! I am the master here and so long as you live under my roof you will obey my orders!"

"You're the one throwing us out of your roof!" Xayomi shouted back.

I covered my ears this was all too much! I hated yelling! I hated this! I didn't know what to do so I just ran. I ran into the castle with Darling at my heels and up to my room and slammed the door. I then crawled into my bed and buried my face into the pillow and sobbed.

There was a slight knock at the door,

"GO AWAY!" I screamed.

But the door opened anyway and in stepped Xayomi and Scat. She walked over to my bed and sat down. She gently started rubbing my back but when I still didn't look at her she grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into her chest. That's when I broke down I started crying and I could not stop. Eventually I managed to calm down but I did not leave Xayomi's embrace.

"Do you remember when I gave this to you?" she asked gently touching my bracelet.

"You made it for me for Christmas a couple years ago."

"Yes. Do you remember the promise I made with it?"

I slowly shook my head.

"I promised that no matter what I will always be there for you. And I will find you again. Once I am in Radiant Garden I will find a way to get back to you. But for now we have to listen to Master Byan."

"Why?" I asked looking at her. She didn't answer just pulled me closer and started humming in my ear while she rocked me slowly my eyes started getting heavy. And I fell into sleep.

A week passed. I had taken up not talking to Master Byan it was difficult to believe the man who was like my father could be the one to tear apart my world. Another week passed and all too soon it was time for us to leave.

We were both sitting in the Gummi ship I was clutching Xayomi's hand like a life line. I was scared. She promised to find me but what if she couldn't? Then the gummi ship came to a stop.

"Girls we have arrived in Radiant Garden." Master Byan said not making eye contact.

I gave Xayomi's hand a squeeze as she stood and gathered her luggage. Before she got off the ship she hugged me and gave me a kiss on the forehead for the last time.

"I promise." She whispered and then she was gone. I sat quietly in the back of the ship watching her through a window until she disappeared. I clutched Darling close to me as I silently cried. When Master Byan returned I quickly wiped away my tears I would not let him see me weak! The rest of the flight was in silence until we reached my final destination the Land of Departure.

I grabbed my bags and Darling and started to go out of the gummi ship Master Byan offered me his hand but I just ignored it and got down by myself. With a sigh Master Byan led me to the castle doors and led me inside. As we stepped inside I started looking around as I looked up I saw a balcony with a women with blue hair and a man with brown hair looking at me. The girl smiled and gave me a small wave which I returned shyly.

Then a man with black hair in a ponytail approached us he looked friendly enough.

"It's been a long time Byan." He said as he shook Master Byan's hand.

"To long." Master agreed "May I introduce my youngest apprentice Lilac." He said gesturing to me. I wanted to shout at him that I was not his apprentice anymore but I held my tounge.

"Pleasure to meet you sir." I said bowing.

"Good to meet you as well Lilac." He said shaking my hand.

"Well I should be off. Good bye Lilac." He said stroking my head at that moment we made eye contact and I could see he was sad too. I then ran into his arms.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back before he let go and left.

What neither of us knew was that the minute Master Byan stepped outside the castle doors he collapsed on his knees and started crying, saying over and over.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

After Master Byan left it took all the strength I could muster not to start bawling right there.

"Well come along I'll show you to your room." Said Master Eraqus. I sucked in my breath and held in my tears as I followed him to my room. We came to a stop outside a closed door.

"Well here you are. I'll leave you to get settled I'll come get you when dinners ready." He said walking away. I turned to my new room and opened the door what was on the other side did not help my depressed mood. It was completely empty. Nothing in it but a bare bed near a large window and a desk with a shelf. Even the walls were white. I put my luggage down and started unpacking. By the time I was done the room felt a lot more like home. The bare bed now had a light blue pillow and a purple blanket on top. And the desk was now filed with my notebooks, journals, books, and pencils. And the rest of the room was now filled with the pictures Xayomi had drawn for me over the years. Lastly on my side table next to my b4ed was a picture with Xayomi, me, Master Byan and the pets in it.

With a sigh I sat down on my bed and started petting Darling. All of a sudden her ears perked up and she ran out the door.

"Darling! Get back here before you get lost." I hissed chasing after her. She ran down the hall in till she came upon a closed door and started pawing it.

"Darling stop you don't know what is on the other side. We should get back to our room." I said trying to pick her up but she backed away and growled at me.

"Are you growling at me?" I asked only to get another growl.

"If I open the door will you come back with me?" I then received a doggie nod.

"Fine." I said opening the door. On the other side was a boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He looked up with a scared expression.

"I am so sorry. I had no idea anyone was in here." I quickly apologized glaring at Darling.

"It's okay." The boy said looking back at his hands.

I don't know what motivated me to do so but ended up walking over to his bed and sat next to him.

"My names Lilac I'm the new apprentice." When he didn't say anything I added "And you are?"

"Ventus."

"Ventus." I said trying it out. "That's a nice name."

"Thanks." Then there was a very long awkward silence.

"Ventus is everything okay?" I asked something about the boy was off.

"I'm fine it's just… I don't remember anything about my past everything is just… gone."

I gasped. "That's horrible."

"It's fine."

I felt bad for bringing this up so I decided to share my troubles.

"You know I don't remember my past either." I said. Ventus looked up and stared at me surprised. "I don't know a lot about myself. My parents abandoned me as a baby so I don't know a lot about myself either like when my birthday is, what my middle and last names are, heck I don't even know who my parents are. So I guess we are in the same boat huh?"

"I guess." I could tell by his voice that it didn't make him feel better.

"Well you know my sister always told me that the past is in the past but the future is more important even if pieces are missing you have to find the strength to fight for your future." I said an ach forming in my heart at the mere mention of Xayomi.

"That… is good advice." Ventus said.

"So what do you say Ventus why don't we fight for our futures together?" I asked holding out my hand. He stared at it for a minute before he took my hand and shook it.

"Yeah." And for the first time since I meet him he gave me a real sincere smile.

It was then that Darling ran into the room and started barking at Ventus happily. He gasped and backed away afraid.

"Hey its okay it's just my dog Darling she's very friendly look." I said picking her up and gently petting her back causing her tail to wag. But Ventus did not look convinced and he looked at Darling suspiciously.

"Here" I said taking Ventus' wrist and made him pet Darling. At first he was really nervous but he slowly warmed up to her. Soon I found the both of us playing with Darling and laughing like we were best friends. Maybe this place wasn't so bad.

What the two teens didn't realize was that the other three keyblade bearers were watching the whole scene with watering eyes. It turned out that Ventus had not so much smiled let alone laugh since his stay with them.

"Come along you two let's give them some privacy you can meet her at dinner." Master Eraqus said as he shooed his apprentices away.

All of a sudden a loud RING was heard throughout the castle I looked at Ven with a puzzled expression.

"What was that?"

"It means it's time for dinner." He answered.

"Oh."

"Well come on I'll show you were we eat." He said beckoning me to fallow him.

Once we entered the dining area I looked around at the occupants at one end of the table was Maser Eraqus on his left were two empty chairs on his right sat the girl and boy I saw earlier when I first entered the castle.

"Ah welcome Lilac I see you meet our youngest apprentice Ventus." Said Master Eraqus.

"Yes sir." I said looking at my feet I hated all the attention I was getting. I guess Ventus understood ho w I felt because he grabbed my wrist and led me to the two empty chairs having me sit next to him.

As we started eating I could tell the other two were staring at me but I kept my eyes on my plate.

"Lilac allow me to introduce my other two apprentices this is Terra" he said referring to the man.

"Hey Lilac how do you like it here so far?" he asked. He looked as if he was going to ask something else but stopped cause of the warning looks he got from the girl and Master Eraqus.

"I really like it here it seems like a nice place."

Master Eraqus smiled at my answer and continued introductions. "And this is Aqua."

"Hello." She said.

"Nice to meet you all." I said.

All throughout dinner I mostly talked to Ventus but I did occasionally talk with Aqua and Terra. After dinner I headed up to my new room and crawled into my bed with Darling. I still missed Xayomi a great deal but I didn't hate my new home.

"You know what Darling maybe we will like it here." I whispered before I fell asleep.

**Part 5 coming soon! Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5! I own nothing! SO DO NOT SUE ME! **

The Missing Tale

It had been four years since that day. I had found a home in the Land of Departure. Master Eraqus became like a father figure he never would be able to replace Master Byan, but he tried his best and that is all I could of asked. Terra became like an older brother he was gentle yet strong, though he acted tough most of the time you could easily tell he cared about us. Aqua was like an older sister, without her I don't know if I ever could of gotten over Xayomi. I love Xayomi and I always will, but Aqua she was always there she was the one who took over Xayomi's role as a big sister something I will never forget.

Then there was Ventus. Over the years we all developed the habit of calling him Ven. He…He became my best friend. I would talk to him about things that I wouldn't even dare write on paper. He was always there for me. I even told him about how I was a guardian a secret I didn't even tell the Master.

It was a dark night. I was up late scribbling in my notebook. Darling was lying next to me on my bed. It was completely silent that is in till a loud knocking sound filled my ears. Surprised I got up and opened my door to see a clearly out of breath Ven. He was gasping for air which is odd considering his room was just down the hall.

"Ven? What's wrong?" I asked confused.

"There's a meteor shower!" he shouted gesturing to my window. I looked outside and sure enough there was a meteor shower.

"Whoa." I gasped staring at it in amazement.

"Come on hurry up! We don't want to miss it!" Ven shouted grabbing my arm and pulling me down the palace steps. I broke free from his hold and ran past him.

"Slow poke!" I yelled running to the center of the yard.

"Cheater." He stated as he approached me.

"Sore loser."

He rolled his eyes before he started surveying the area. "Hmm. I can't see much from here."

I looked around. It was true the sky was hard to see. "Let's try the training yard." I said looking down the said path.

"Good idea. Race you." He shouted running passed me.

"Hey!" I yelled chasing after him.

As we arrived at the training yard Ven paused as he saw the training rings set up.

"Hmmm. Well we do have time to spare." Ven drawled looking at me pleadingly.

"Fine. But if we miss this once in a life time chance it's on you." I said pulling out my keyblade and charging at the nearest target.

"Take that!"

"Bring it!"

"You're done." We yelled as we finished attacking the rings by the time we were done we were both out of breath and gasping for air.

"Wait what are we messing around here for? We're going to miss the meteor shower!" Ven yelled jumping up the cliff to get to the top and running.

"Hey! Don't forget this was your idea!" I yelled chasing after him.

As we came to the clearing I looked up to see the spectacular view.

"Wow." Ven said staring.

"You said it." I whispered in awe. We then found ourselves lying down on the grass. I was blinking back sleep turns out training at midnight was exhausting. Before I fell asleep I heard Ven murmur "Why does this feel so familiar?" but before I could respond I was already asleep.

I had this nagging feeling in my gut. You know the one you get when your being watched. I slowly blinked my eyes open only to see both Aqua and Ven's faces looking at me.

"Yikes!" I shouted jumping into a sitting position before looking at my friends laughing faces. "Seriously guys are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I asked.

"Honestly you two should have brought blankets. You could have frozen to death." She exclaimed.

Ven and I looked at each and smirked. "Yes Mother." We said in a unison before Aqua leaned forward and smacked us gently on the outside of the head.

Laughing we walked over to the ledge and sat down gazing at the stars.

"Hey Aqua?" Ven asked.

"Hm?"

"Do you ever wonder what stars are where light comes from?" Ven asked.

I looked at Aqua for an answer. I had never thought of this question before but now I was curious.

"Hm. Well the say-"

"That every star up there is another world." Interrupted a different voice that I knew all to well.

"Terra." We all said as we turned to face him.

"Yep. It's hard to believe that there are so many worlds out there besides our own. The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns." He explained as he approached us.

"What? I don't get it." Ven said confused.

"Neither do I." I said also confused Terra is just speaking jibberish.

"In other words they are just like you Ven and you too Lilac." He answered. Okay that doesn't help now I am even more confused.

"What does THAT mean?" Ven asked.

"You'll find out someday I'm sure." Terra responded.

"But I want to know now!" Ven complained.

"You're too young to know now." Terra responded.

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

I could not help but let out a chuckle they just sounded so ridiculous. I started laughing more as I heard Aqua laugh too.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" demanded Terra.

"We can't help it you two would make the weirdest brothers." Aqua responded through her laughing and I nodded in response.

"Huh?" the boys asked before they joined into the laughter.

We then found ourselves sitting on the ledge again with me next to Aqua followed by Ven then Terra.

"Oh Yeah! Terra you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow!" she exclaimed. I was confused did she actually just realize this?

"I made us good luck charms." She said smiling as she pulled out four star shaped necklaces. One was orange, another was green, then blue, and followed by purple.

She tossed one to Terra and I looked at it in amazement.

"Here" She said tossing Ven the green one and the purple one to me.

"I get one too?" Ven asked.

"And me?" I was so touched.

"Of course one for each of us." She said as we all put them in the center of our circle we made.

"Yeah." I whispered.

"Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star shaped fruit and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So long as you and your friends carry good luck charms like it you can never be driven apart. You will always find your way back to each other." She said. I looked shocked that was quite a story. "Technically I think you're supposed to make them out of seashells but I did the best with what I had." And it's ruined.

"Oy. Sometimes you are such a girl." Terra said shaking his head. I gave him a dirty look I took offense to that.

"Hey. What do you mean sometimes?"

"So this isn't a real good luck charm?" asked Ven sadly.

"Well that's yet to be seen. But I did work some magic on it." Aqua said. Did I mention Aqua was a very powerful magician?

"Really! What?" I asked excited.

"An unbreakable connection." She said holding it up to the sky.

"Okay Aqua I have to side with Terra on this one you are being very mushy here." I said giggling.

"Hey!" We all then laughed.

"Well tomorrow's the exam. Anybody wanna spar?" Terra asked walking towards the training area.

Ven and I looked at each other and smirked.

"We can take ya!" we shouted.

"That is if you aren't scared of fighting both of us." I asked leaning on my keyblade.

"Humph. Bring it." He said and so the fight commenced.

I was getting aggravated Terra was blocking our attacks but he wasn't fighting back!

"Hey stop going easy on us you'll never win unless you stay on the offensive!" Ven yelled.

"Yeah! But don't try to kill us like you did last year!" I shouted back subconsciously rubbing my left wrist were Terra accidently snapped the bone in half during a spar.

That spar was much more fun because Terra was giving his all eventually Aqua approached us and got ready to spar as well.

"Well. That works fine but you need to learn to handle a bigger crowd." she said joining the fight. This time we focused on using shootlock a special move we had only just learned.

"Okay let's wrap this up." Terra said joining the fight.

"Let's do this partner." I whispered to Ven.

"Oh yeah."

After we got a few hits on Terra we jumped back.

"Told ya we're good!" Ven shouted giving me a high five.

"You guys are so ready." I said

"Yeah you are so going to clean up the exam tomorrow." Added Ven.

"I hope it's that easy." Terra said as he and Aqua approached us.

"It's as the Master said. Power is born within the heart. When the time is right you just have to look inside yourself and you'll find it there." Aqua added.

We nodded. Ven and I found ourselves just looking in the distance.

"Hey we're going to head back." Terra said interrupting our train of thought.

"Yeah me too." Ven said running towards them me following close behind.

I went up to my room and went to sleep not knowing that would be the last night we all spent under the same stars.

**Part 6 coming soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I OWN NOTHING! **

The Missing Tale

The next morning I woke up extra early to get ready. I was really excited to watch Terra and Aqua's test. I wonder if Xayomi has done her test yet I miss her.

I walked out into the hall way and started to head down to the room the test was being held in. But on the way I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I slowly approached where I saw the movement and walking down the hall was a masked boy. No one was supposed to be visiting today besides Master Xehanort. And considering he is around the same age as Master Eraqus I was pretty sure this guy wasn't him.

"Hey!" I yelled walking over to him. The boy turned his head to look at me before he ran in the opposite direction. "Hey get back here." I yelled following him. And so began the chase I chased the boy all around the castle, upstairs, down stairs, everywhere. Eventually he turned the corner but when I turned he was gone. By this time I was exhausted I walked over to a wall and slid to the floor. "A short nap will be fine." I muttered closing my eyes and falling asleep.

I awoke with someone shaking my arm. I looked up into the face of Ventus,

"Ven what is it?" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"Well sleeping beauty" which earned him a good punch in the arm "Ow! We are going to be late for the test! What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was," but how could I explain to him about what just happened? He would probably think I was crazy. "Never mind come on lets go." I sated heading to the test. Once in the room Ven and I took our places against the wall. As we waited for Master Eraqus I saw Ven make eye contact with Master Xehanort. The man was creepy and judging by that smile he gave Ven he wasn't too pleasant either. Ven looked down uncomfortable I slowly started to reach for his hand but the Master Eraqus cleared his throat causing Ven to unknowingly pull his hand away. I stood at attention and waited for the Master to speak.

"Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one but two of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates, but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy-not a test of wills, but a test of heart. Both of you may prevail, or neither. But I am sure our guest, Master Xehanort, did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark." Stated Master Eraqus turning to look at Master Xehanort who did nothing but nod.

"I trust you are ready." He stated facing Terra and Aqua again.

"Yes Master." They stated in a unison.

"Then let the examination begin." He stated summoning his keyblade and pointing it at them summoning five globes of light. I watched Terra and Aqua taking them out, but then something weird happened. The globes all of a sudden went from balls of light to balls of darkness. I gasped this wasn't part of the test! Terra and Aqua seemed confused but now put more effort into destroying the globes.

Then the globe started to come at US.

"Ven! Lilac!" yelled Terra and Aqua as one approached us.

Ven summoned his keyblade and slashed through it weakening it but not destroying it, I ran over to it doing the finishing slash destroying the globe.

"Don't worry about us. You two focus on the exam!" I yelled at them getting in my fighting stance.

"But Lilac, you're in danger here! Go wait in your rooms." Aqua ordered. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes she is such a mother. I wish she would stop babying us she is worse than Xayomi and she's my actual sister!

"No way! I've been looking forward to this-seeing you two become Masters. I'm not gonna miss it now!" Ven yelled back.

"Exactly!" I added.

"But Ven..." Aqua started but was interrupted by Terra.

"They can take care of themselves. They've been out there training just as hard as us."

"Thank you Terra." I stated

"Yeah!" Ven added.

"Stay sharp, you two." Aqua ordered charging at one orb.

I nodded before charging at the nearest orb and slash through it. Followed by several fire balls eventually after numerous spells and attacks it disappeared. I looked up to see that the other orbs had been destroyed, Ven and I shared a nod before heading back to our place. Master Eraqus stepped forward.

"That was unexpected...but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold. Which brings us to your next trial."

I didn't think it was an excellent test I mean those orbs lost control they could of killed someone who wasn't prepared! And why was it that Master Xehanort looked so pleased? Before I could comprehend this Ven nudged me and gestured to Terra and Aqua as they started to spar. It was amazing it was so cool when Aqua almost got a hit on Terra. I saw the look in Terra's eyes as he clenched his fist it was anger and aggravation. Then dark energy appeared from his fist before he quickly demolished it. I looked over to the Masters. Master Eraqus was frowning and Xehanort had that creepy smile on his face again. Eventually the fight ended and they turned towards Master Eraqus, judging by the look on his face the results weren't good. I prayed to whoever was listening that everything would be okay.

"We have deliberated and reached a decision. Terra, Aqua, you both performed commendably. However, only Aqua has shown the Mark of Mastery." Master Eraqus said.

'No.' I whispered this had been Terra's dream since forever and judging by his facial expression he was crushed.

"Terra, you failed to keep the darkness within you sufficiently in check. But, there is always next time. That is all. Aqua, as our newest Keyblade Master, you are entitled to certain knowledge." He stated as Master Xehanort got up from his throne and walked out into the hallway.

"Please wait here for further instruction." He finished before following Master Xehanort.

"Hey..." Aqua started as Ven and I approached. Terra didn't even respond he just continued staring at the ground.

"Terra, I'm sorry." Ven said looking at his feet.

"I think you did great." I said.

It was the truth I could not comprehend what was wrong with Terra summoning some darkness? I could not help but think that if he had summoned light Master Eraqus would have passed him. But, didn't light and darkness equal out with each other. Isn't that what my job as a guardian of balance was?

"The darkness... Where did it come from?" Terra asked himself. Then there was an awkward silence I had no idea what to say, the guy's dream had been crushed what do you say in that type of situation?

"Sorry...but I need some time alone." Terra said walking away. I wanted to follow him so bad, but maybe some time alone is what he needed. I looked to Ven who gave me a hopeless look. Aqua then turned to us with a fake smile.

"Why don't you go up to Ven's room and hang out for a while?"

"But Terra-"Ven started but was cut off by Aqua.

"Needs sometime alone."

I sighed before grabbing Ven's hand and pulling him towards his room where Darling was waiting for us. When we entered the room I sat on a chair and pulled Darling into my lap while Ven sprawled out on his bed he pulled out a wooden keyblade passed on to him by Terra. I smiled at the memory. Then a loud bell pierced my ears.

"What's going on?"

Ven shot up from his place on the bed and raced to the door way I followed close behind.

"Better hurry, Ventus..."

I gasped and turned around. There in Ven's room was the boy I saw earlier! How could he just appear he wasn't there five seconds ago!

"Huh? Who are you?" Ven asked just as shocked as me.

"Or you'll never see Terra again." He continued shrugging off Ven's question.

"What? Get real. I can see Terra anytime I want." Ven stated. I rolled my eyes of course we can see Terra again, we live with the guy for crying out loud. The masked boy had no idea what he was taking about.

"Like right now? He's leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up...he'll be a different person." He stated walking forward. Okay this guy was nuts!

"Look-whoever you are-you don't know the first thing about Terra. Me and him will always be a team. You trying to pick a fight or what?" Ven asked getting in his battle stance and I summoned my keyblade. Weather this boy's intentions where good or bad he was a trespasser and he had insulted my friend. He was going down.

"Oh, grow up. Is that what you call friendship? You'll never know the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself. Come on, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here, looking at nothing but what's in your tiny world?" he asked disappearing through a dark portal.

"Hey! Wait!" I yelled, but he was gone. For the first time fear started to claw it's way into my heart. Could…Could there be a sliver of a chance Terra was in trouble? Memories came flooding back to me. Weather they were good or bad Terra was always there. I couldn't lose him! I broke out of my thoughts when Ven yelled: "Terra!" and ran out. I raced after him with Darling at my heals. We ran through the castle and out the front door to see Terra leaving.

'No!' I thought running faster. If Terra was really leaving then could the rest of what the masked boy said be true? Of Terra being a different person?

"Terra!" I yelled as I approached him causing him to pause in his walking. When we finally caught up we were so out of breath we couldn't even form words.

"I – We." I stuttered out, but I was cut off when Terra chuckled.

"It's okay." He said smirking and ruffling our hair. He walked a few paces away and summoned his armor on his shoulder. He then summoned his glider. Despite the crisis we were in Ven seemed to completely forget as we watched Terra fly away.

"Come on we have to follow him!" I yelled summoning my armor. It was completely light purple and blue except for the part that covered my face and that was silver. I then mimicked Terra and throw my keyblade into the sky to summon my glider it was like a scooter with a basket at the front. I slowly stood aboard the board and held tightly to the handle bars and Darling hoped in the basket. I then followed the way Terra went and Ven followed suit. As we flew off I heard Aqua yell out:  
>"Guys wait!" she yelled. I winced I would miss her, but I needed to do this.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**I own NOTHING! **

The Missing Tale

We eventually came to a landing on a small world. I had no idea where we were, but judging by the rocky terrain I could guess we were on or at least near a mountain. I deactivated my armor as I landed next to Ven on a ledge putting Darling down on the ground.

"Hey! Lilac check it out!" Ven yelled grabbing my arm and pointing towards a group of six – seven little men.

"Whoa!" I gasped. This was so cool. I had never been to another world before! I watched as the little men walked well actually marched into a small cave.

"Let's follow them" Ven said.

"Why?"

"They could know something about Terra!" he said happily racing off.

"What? Hey wait up." I yelled chasing after him with Darling following close behind. As we were running a swarm of blue monsters appeared before us.

"What are those things?" Ven yelled stumbling back as one swiped at him.

"I don't know!" I yelled summoning my keyblade and slicing through one of them. Ven followed suit and after a few minutes we managed to destroy the monsters.

"What are they?" Ven questioned. Darling started barking loudly.

"What is it girl?" I asked kneeling down to face her. She was holding an open envelope in her mouth before she placed it into my hand.

"What is it?" Ven asked as I opened the letter surveying it.

"It's a letter to Master Eraqus! From Master Xehanort!" I gasped reading on.

"According to this those monsters where Unversed. Creatures created from negative emotions! And Master Xehanort says that they inhabit every world!" I gasped. How could those creatures inhabit every world are they that powerful?

"Wow. Guess we'll be seeing a lot of them." Ven murmured.

"No kidding…Well we better go track down those little men." I said walking towards the cave followed by my other two companions. As we enter the cave I saw the men working hard to gather diamonds. It was beautiful. Everything was sparkling. I guess this cave was actually a mine! One of the men who appeared to be the leader turned to face us.

"Huh? Who are you?" he questioned.

"I'm Ventus. Call me Ven." Ven replied happily.

"And I'm Lilac nice to meet-"I started but I was cut off by an angry looking man.

"Diamond thieves! Take cover, ya fools!" He yelled. The dwarfs run helter-skelter around the cave, racing into a side shaft. All accept one who ran into a wall knocking him unconscious. I gasped.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"You didn't?" Asked one.

"You mean, you're not here for our diamonds?" asked one while yawning.

"That's not nice, treating us like some kind of bad guy." I said offend did these people ever hear the saying don't judge a book by its cover?

"We are just trying to find a friend. His name is Terra. He's dressed kind of like me, about yay tall—"started Ven but was once again interrupted by the one with the big mouth. Man was he getting on my nerves.

"Sounds like a tall tale to me! Go on, get!"

"We don't know any Terra." Said another.

"Please... Could you come over here? I just want to talk." Ven asked scratching the back of his head.

"Don't fall for it! Stay where ya are!" yelled the one with the big mouth.

"All right. Then we'll do this the hard way!" Ven yelled running up to the dwarf's who scattered before I followed him I walked over the dwarf who had fallen and offered him my hand.

"You okay?" I asked only getting a nod in return. I smiled before following Ven only to find that he had gather up all the dwarf's.

"Wow you work fast." I commented approaching them.

"Come on. I'm telling you, I'm no thief." Ven pleaded as the dwarf I helped joined the group.

"Ha, that's what they all say. Well, we're onto ya!" said the one with the big mouth as he and the others crossed their arms while the one I helped looked sad.

"Fine, I get it. You want me to leave, I'll leave. Come on Ven!" I growled marching off Ven and Darling following close behind.

"Oh, but-can you tell me where I can find some other people around here?" Ven asked before we left.

"Yeah someone who is useful." I mumbled to myself.

"There's a castle beyond the chorus-I mean, the forest." Said one.

"Got it. Well, thanks." Ven said before we left heading down the mountain trail. Having to fight a few Unversed on the way before we reached our destination. It was a small house. Only a little taller than us.

"This must be where those little men live." Ven muttered wiping off some dust from the window to look inside. I peered over his shoulder and wrinkled my nose at the sight.

"They are not very tidy." I said. It was true the inside was a mess!

All of a sudden a shrill scream broke through the quite atmosphere. I gasped what was that. I looked around to find the source of the scream to find it coming through the woods.

"There!" Ven yelled pointing toward the forest running toward the screams.

"Into the dangerous woods we go." I muttered chasing after him. The woods where crawling with Unversed! We didn't even make it two steps without being attacked.

"What the heck? Why are there so many?" Ven yelled aggravated.

"Something must be attracting them." I said as we rounded the corner. I gasped as I saw a young girl around our age crying. I approached her first.

"Hey are you okay?" I asked kneeling next to her.

"What's wrong?" Ven asked from behind us.

"These horrible trees-they tried to grab me." She whimpered shaking. Poor thing was terrified.

Ven leaned over and extended his hand to her.

"Ah, it's okay. You were probably just seeing things. It happens to all of us when we're afraid." He said smiling.

"Yeah it's happened to me before." I added smiling gently.

She turned slowly and took Ven's hand to help her stand. I rose with her.

"Oh, thank you. I feel quite better now. I'm sure I'll get along, somehow. But...I do need a place to sleep at night. Would you know anywhere I might?" she questioned smiling sweetly. This girl was so … sweet. Her heart was completely pure. No darkness what's so ever. How strange.

"Well, we saw a house just up ahead. Come on, we'll take you there." I said gesturing the way we came.

"Oh, I'm Ventus. Ven for short." Ven said.

"And I'm Lilac nice to meet you."

"Thank you, Ven, Lilac. My name's Snow White." She said smiling happily.

"Great. Let's get going!" Ven said walking ahead of us.

Snow looked a little nervous. I wondered if she had been attacked by the Unversed. A light bulb went off in my head that's why there were so many Unversed! Her light was attracting them! While protecting her from Unversed we escorted her to the dwarf's house.

"I'm pretty sure you'll be safe here...but sit tight while we look around." Ven said once we got inside. We went back outside and looked around we found nothing but a few more unversed. Eventually we decided to head back to the cottage.

"The coast is clear! Not a monster in sight- Huh!" Ven gasped. I looked over to see Snow White surrounded by the dwarfs. The one I had helped gave me a big smile which I happily returned. But it was wiped off when that stupid big mouth spoke.

"Couldn't stay away, couldja? An' who invited you in, ya rotten thieves?" he yelled as the others glared.

"Oh no, he's not a thief. He rescued me." Snow said gently.

"You fussn't be mooled-uh, mustn't be fooled by him, princess." Said the leader dwarf.

"If we had wanted to hurt her –which we don't- why would we go through the trouble of rescuing her?" I asked with Darling barking in agreement.

"Just go on an' git!" I big mouth yelled completely ignoring me.

"Please don't send him away. You see, he helped me when I was lost, and oh, so very frightened." She pleaded. What had happened to her?

"What happened?" Ven asked reading my mind.

"Well, I was picking flowers by the wood, and there was a stranger there. He had a sword, but it was like a key-and then these monster came and—"Snow started. Wait sword, key, could it possibly be?

"A sword like a key... Terra!" Ven gasped

"Ya mean this stranger saw ya and set his horde of evil demons after ya?" the leader asked angrily.

"Terra would never do that!" I yelled. How dare they insult someone they never even met!

"Oh, of course. I'm sure he wouldn't. Not if he's someone who's your friend." Snow agreed kindly. This girl was way to nice.

"Princess, you trustn't be so musting-er, trusting." The leader said.

"They're a-lyin'! Mark my words." The loud one yelled.

"I'll prove it!" Ven yelled running outside the cottage.

"Ven wait!" I yelled but he was gone. I angrily turned to face the dwarves.

"You shouldn't talk about things you don't know a thing about!" I yelled at them before running after Ven who was almost in the woods by the time me and Darling caught up. I tried to talk to him but he was too angry and hurt to listen. We were almost out of the woods when we ran into a giant tree-like Unversed, blocking our way.

"Back off!" Ven yelled when we summoned our Keyblade's. The battle was a tough one. This was the first boss I had ever actually fought. But thanks to a lot of fire spells we managed to beat him.

"You okay?" I asked Ven once the monster disappeared.

"Yeah fine. Come on we have to catch up to terra." He ordered grabbing my arm and pulled me out of the woods into a flowery field.

"Terra!" Ven yelled at the top of his lungs only to be met by silence.

"We must have just missed him." I complained running a hand through my hair.

"Aww. Huh?" Ven asked looking down. I followed his gaze to see that an apple had rolled to his foot. He bent down to pick it up. Looking up I noticed a hunched figure in a black cloak walking toward the forest. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a woman carrying a basket filled with apples.

"Ven. I think it belongs to her." I said pointing. Ven nodded as we approached the figure.

"Excuse me, ma'am? You dropped this." Ven said offering her the apple. She turns around, revealing the wart on her large nose (yikes!). She saw the apple and her eyes light up.

"Oh, why thank you, my pets. To tell the truth, I really don't know what I would have done without that." She said taking the apple back chuckling to her self. Man this chick is getting creepier by the minute.

"Haven't I seen that sword before?" she asked eyeing my keyblade.

"Terra has one. You know Terra?" I asked. Maybe we could still catch him!

"Oh, yes, yes... That ruffian pointed one of those at me, asking about some "Xehanort"- My poor heart nearly stopped." What? Terra would never do that! Right? And why was he asking about Master Xehanort?

"That doesn't sound like him at all... Ma'am, where did Terra go?" Ven asked.

"I'm sure I have no idea... Must you all menace a poor granny so?" she asked walking away. What the heck! We were just asking questions is that so bad?

"What? No, I was just..." Ven started.

"Terra, what did you do?" I murmured to myself looking at my keyblade.

"Ven." I said turning to him. "We better get going. Terra can't be too far away." I said summoning my armor and putting darling in my glider basket.

"Yeah you're right." He said sadly following me as we flew to a new world.


	8. Chapter 8

The Missing Tale

"What is going on?"

Was the first thing I said when I landed in the new world with Ven and Darling. Somehow we ended up in a cage. Which is just fantastic. I grumbled something I should not repeat under my breath as I looked outside the cage and gasped. Everything was huge! No. Wait. Everything wasn't huge I was tiny!

"Somebody tell me how I got so SMALL!" Ven yelled grabbing onto the bars.

"Ven chill!" I said putting a hand on his shoulder. He sighed. My head shot up heard a door open and I saw a women walking toward us towering overhead. She picks up the cage and we struggled to keep our balance. She tips the door of the cage up toward her, and we roll to the back of it. I had to clutch Darling close to my chest to keep her from falling and I accidently fell on top of Ven causing both of us to blush as I rolled to the side as she moved us again.

"Don't be afraid." She cooed sweetly looking at us through the now open door.

"Oh! How interesting... I've never seen mice like you before." She questioned.

"Mouse?" Ven asked rubbing his sore head.

"Jaq, you better explain things to him." The lady ordered someone I couldn't see. She puts the cage down, Ven and I wobbled inside again. The cage shakes as it touches the floor. We looked up and sees the mouse walking toward us. Okay this is one crazy world.

"Now, now now. Looka, little guy. Raker easy. Nutta worry 'bout. We like-a you. Cinderelly like-a you, too. She's-a nice, very nice-nice." He said in some sort of accent. I looked up at Cinderella and smiled. Like Snow White she had this aura to her one that made you have to love her.

"Come on now. Zugk-zugk." Jaq said waving us to follow him. Slowly we walked out of the cage I was still holding Darling close.

"Name-a Jaq." He said

"I'm Ventus. Call me Ven." Ven said happily.

"And I'm Lilac and this is Darling" I said as I put Darling down on the floor.

Zugk-zugk, Ven-Ven. Lilacy. Need-a sudda? Ask-a Jaq!" Okay I have no idea what he said.

"Cinderella!" shouted someone within the house.

"Oh well, time to get to my chores. I'll see you in a little while, Ven, Lilac." Said Cinderella sighing. She left the room softly.

"Wow, I guess she's got her hands full." Ven said.

"Yeah." I said watching after her.

"Yep, work, work, work! Stepmuddy keep-a Cinderelly busy all day!" Jaq stated angrily.

"That's not very nice" I said.

"She didn't seem to mind much, though." Ven added.

"No, not Cinderelly. She work-a hard. Got a dream-big dream. Dream gonna come true!"

"That sounds like somebody I know." I said smiling at Ven who nodded. We both knew we were both thinking of Terra.

"Hey, maybe you can help me find him! His name's Terra. You seen him?" Ven asked. I looked over hopefully.

"Ehh, no no. Never saw Terra 'fore." And the hope is crushed.

"Oh, well. It was worth a shot." I muttered.

"Come on. Follow me. Gotta see the house." Jaq said scampering through a mouse hole.

"H-hey!" Ven yelled.

"Wait up!" I called before entering. I sneezed. This place was covered in dust. We followed Jaq inside the walls to the top floor. This was pretty cool it was like a tiny town! As we entered a room that Jaq called Cinderella's room I felt sad. Cinderella works so hard and this is all she has to show for it? That's not fair!

"Follow me!" Jaq said climbing his way to sit on the window with us close behind. I gasped the view was gorgeous it showed a beautiful castle!

"What's that?" Ven asked.

"That's-a palace-King's palace! Gonna be a big ball tonight." Jaq answered.

"Is Cinderella going?" I asked. I hoped she would she deserved it! I personally would not like to go to a ball wearing a dress? Only in my nightmares!

"I don't know..." Jaq sighed.

We heard the door open and turned around to see Cinderella entering.

"Hello, you three. Have you become friends already?" she asked smiling. We all looked at each other before nodding. Cinderella opened her wardrobe and pulled out a dressmakers dummy wearing a old pink dress.

"Oh, that's wonderful." She said smiling happily before turning to her dress. Humming softly to herself.

"You sure look happy, Cinderella." I said watching her happily.

"Mm, I'm going to the royal ball tonight." She said sighing happily. "I guess dreams really do come true."

"Cinderella!" yelled the voice from earlier breaking the happy atmospheres.

"My dress will have to wait." Cinderella said sadly.

"Cinderella!" "Cinderella!" yelled two different voices.

"All right, all right, I'm coming!" she called back not rude but not too happy either walking out the door.

"Poor Cinderelly... She not go to the ball." Jaq said sadly.

"Why not?" Ven asked.

"You see. They fix her. Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done. Say, got an idea! Ven-Ven and Lilacy help-a Jaq?" He asked excitedly.

"With what?" I asked.

"Fix-a Cinderelly dress for the ball." I beamed.

"Jaq you're a genius!" I laughed happily.

"But what do we need to get?" Ven asked thoughtfully.

"Look around the house. Lots o' pretty-pretty things." Jaq said scribbling on a piece of paper. "Heres a list" he said handing it to me.

"Thanks!" I said.

"Okay, let's do it. We'll go find whatever we need. Jaq, you get things set up here." Ven ordered as we hopped down to the floor.

"Darling stay here and help him." I said getting a happy bark in return.

"Zugk-zugk!"

We started to head out but Jaq stopped us.

"Ven-Ven! Lilacy! Careful Rucifee!" he shouted.

"Roos-a-fee"? Ven asked.

"Rucifee a cat-cat! Mean...sneaky... Jump at you, bite at you!" Jaq said menacingly.

"Great a killer cat joy." I replied sarcastically.

"Gotcha." Ven said before we took off into the house.

We found ourselves back in the room we first arrived in.

"Okay first on the list pink fabric." I said looking up to see a larg rollof pink lace on the floor.

"Easy." Ven said pulling the fabric around his shoulder like a scarf.

I chuckled. "You look good in pink Ven." He punched me in the arm blushing.

I giggled. "Okay next white lace." I said seeing some on the couch. We continued down the list until we found all the items. We then returned to Jaq with the goods.

"Still needs a pretty-pretty pearl." Jaq said. I groaned guess that was to easy.

"Leave it to us!" Ven said dragging me to the mouse hole.

"Pretty-pretty pearl gotta be down-a-stairs!" he recommended.

We returned to the Wardrobe Room and saw the pearl resting next to a cat-or at least, next to a resting cat. Ven slowly skulks over, careful to not wake Lucifer. For good measure, he waves a hand in front of the cat's closed eyes but it remains still. I slowly picked up the pearl and turned around walking away slowly, realizing the purring has stopped. Uh oh.

"Look out! Rucifee!" Jaq yelled from somewhere in the room we looked above the dresser and Jaq throws a ball of yarn at the cat, hitting it on the head.

"Mrowr!" hissed the demon cat.

"Hurry! Hurry, Ven! Lilac!" Jaq yelled.

We raced toward the mouse hole as Lucifer tried to dodge Jaq's endless assault of yarn balls. Right when we arrived at the hole a loud bang filled my ears whirling around I saw Jaq on the ground about to get attacked by Lucifer.

"Ven!"

"On it!" He yelled as we charged forward.

"Ooh, that hurt..." He murmured rubbing his head before trembling in fear at the approaching cat. Still carrying the pearl, I ran at the cat and knocked its paw away.

"Time to play, cat!" Ven yelled.

"Ven-Ven! Lilacy!" Jaq cheered. I handed over the pearl, keeping my eyes on Lucifer.

"Take the pearl, Jaq! We'll hold him off. Run!" I hissed.

"Zugk-zugk!" Jaq agreed. Taking the pearl and running.

"Bad kitty." I hissed charging forward after getting a few hits. I then saw an opportunity so I jumped on his bad and rode him like a bull until he finally left.

"Oh, that's a big "thank you"." Said the newly arrived Jaq.

"No thanks needed. You saved us before, so we saved you." Ven said smiling.

"That's what friends do, right?" I added.

"Zugk-zugk! Ven-Ven, Jaq, and Lilacy are good friends!" he agreed causing me to smile.

"Now, let's get that dress finished." I said racing off to the room.

A few hours later we had just finished the dress.

"It looks great guys." I commented. We then heard Cinderella's footsteps.

"Quick hide!" Ven hissed shutting the wardrobe and hiding behind a leg.

"Oh, well... What's a royal ball? After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull and boring...and completely...completely wonderful." Poor Cinderella complained sadly.

"Cinderella!" Ven and I yelled to get her attention.

She looked over as we reveled the dress and gasped.

"Is that my dress?"

"Yes it's a present from us." Ven said happily.

"Now you have a dress for the ball." I added just as cheerful.

Cinderella laid her hand next to Ven and me and we walked onto it, chuckling. She does the same for Jaq.

": Why, it's...it's such a surprise..."

"Hurry, hurry! Time-a go, Cinderelly!"

"Oh, thank you." She said happily changing into the gown. She came out a few minutes later.

"You look beautiful Cinderella." I said happily.

"Thank you all so much." She said happily before hurrying away to catch up to her step family. I smiled her dream was finally coming true.

"Jaq-Jaq hope-a Cinderelly dream comes true. What's-a Ven-Ven and Lilacy dream?" Jaq asked a little while later when we were watching Cinderella leave.

"Huh? I wonder..." Ven trailed off.

"Funny... I'd never really thought about it-at least until you asked me." I added thinking.

"My dream is to become a Keyblade Master." Ven finally spoke I smiled as he summoned his keyblade.

"Hope-a Ven-Ven dream come true, too."

"I just need to keep on believing, right?"

"Zugk-zugk!" Jaq happily agreed. I smiled looking out to the stars. I wonder what my dream was.


	9. Chapter 9

The Missing Tale

"Still no sign of Terra!" Ven sighed.

We had just arrived in a new world. This one was called the Enchanted Domain. So far it seemed to be a peaceful place not an Unversed in sight, though I was starting to worry about Terra. How long had it been? Since we l3eft home? A week more? I have no idea. Darling was asleep in my bag poor dog was exhausted.

"Don't worry we'll find him!" I told him smiling though it was forced. We had reached the end of the hallway I looked around and spotted a door.

"Come on." I said opening the door. In the room was a sleeping girl and judging by the crown on her head she was a princess.

"Ah?" Ven asked.

We walked silently toward her for a closer look.

"Stop, you get away from her!" yelled a voice from behind us. I gasped and whirled around to see three small fairies in dresses and pointy hats. They stand with their wands drawn.

"Wha- Oh, I'm sorry. It's just, I've never seen anyone so beautiful." Ven admitted blushing. I winced for some reason earing Ven say that hurt my heart I wonder why.

"Who are you?" asked the fairy in the red dress.

"I'm Ventus. But you can call me Ven."

"And I'm Lilac." I said a tad bitterly.

"Oh... You don't seem bad, dear. I'm certain you have a pure heart, just like our precious Aurora." Said the green one.

"Can you tell me why she's sleeping?" I asked surely she would of woken up by now with all the commotion.

"Long ago, Maleficent cursed her. Now she's stolen her heart." Said the red one. I gasped that was horrible. No one deserved that.

"Hm... Well then, why don't we go get it back for her?" offered Ven. I nodded I may not be Aurora's biggest fan but I still felt compelled to help.

"That's impossible, dear. Maleficent's home is at the Forbidden Mountain. It's not safe." Fretted the green one.

"I'm not afraid. We can't just leave Aurora like this. I can help. You gotta believe me. C'mon, let's go get her heart!" I encouraged.

"You know, you're absolutely right. The Forbidden Mountain is through the forest. Come along-follow us. After all, we wouldn't want you to get lost." Said the red one.

"I'd appreciate that." I said nodding.

"By the way my name is Flora" said the red one.

"I'm Fauna." Said the green one.

"And I'm Merriweather." Said the blue one.

"Nice to meet you." Said Ven "Now let's go!" he said as we started off toward the forest.

We left the palace only to come face to face with some Unversed which we got rid of quickly. We headed off into the forest where the Unversed had multiplied. Eventually we came across a wall of green fire blocking our way.

"Looks like we're stuck." I commented.

"This must be Maleficent's doing." Flora growled. Man an angry fairy is just plain scary.

"I know." Said Fauna. She fluttered over to the wall and waved her wand at the fire. Magic sparkles appeared from the end of her wand and created a hole in the wall. The fire died down!

"Shall we?" Offered Fauna. Magic is so cool!

"Yup." Ven and I said together. We entered the Forbidden Mountain and walked up the long rocky road. Once we entered the Gates of Maleficent's domain, we saw a hog and bird-like minions in the Throne Room.

": Careful, they're Maleficent's." Flora hissed.

"Well, they ain't guardin' nothing." I muttered waving Ven to follow me.

I smirked as the bird minion yawned.

"'Ten-shun!" Ven yelled as we ran in surprising the guards.

"No sleeping on the job!" I ordered. The guards where difficult to take down together especially when the called like twenty others for back up. But we got the job done.

We entered the hall and made their way through the maze of magical walls. Ven approached a blazing green flame at the end of the room. Amidst the fire, a heart floats. Ven pointed his Keyblade at it, and the fire vanishes, leaving dark smoke. The heart escaped and floated away.

"That should do it." I said as Ven nodded.

I started to leave but stopped.

"Huh?" There was a flash and I gasped. I was seeing a … memory?

A young man was talking to Aurora.

"Don't you remember? We've met before." The man said.

"We...we have?" Auora asked looking afraid.

"Why of course. You said so yourself-once upon a dream." he chuckled taking her hand in his and walking through the forest. They stood beside a tree, Aurora leaning on his shoulder.

"I never thought I would meet you-outside of my dreams, that is." She said happily.

"Who are you? What's your name?" the man asked.

"Hmm? Oh, my name... Why, it's..." she started. But her face quickly changed to one of fear.

"Oh, oh no, I can't..." she said as she started to run away/

"Good-bye." She called.

"I must see you!" he called after her.

"I don't know, maybe someday."

"When? Tomorrow?" he question chasing after her.

"Oh, no. This evening! At the cottage, in the glen." She answered.

Then the memory ended.

"What was that?" Ven asked. Had he seen it too?

"Aurora's memory. She must have gotten her heart back." Flora cheered.

"So her dream came true!" Ven said happily.

"Like Cinderella's" I cheered.

"Yes, not long ago. Dreams are very strong beliefs. Aurora's led her to her true love." Flora explained. Wait. Aurora's true love? Yes! That meant Ven couldn't be with her! Wait. Why did I care who Ven was with I didn't like him. Did I? But I was snapped out of my thoughts by Fauna.

"I see you hold strong beliefs too. Don't you, dear?" Fauna asked.

"Yup." "Defiantly." We responded smiling.

"You also have a strong light." Flora added.

"Huh?" I asked.

"All right. Hurry, we can't stay here!" Merriweather fretted as we ran towards the exit. We entered the throne room and in the center of the room was a tall, _green_ figure.

"Someone has released Aurora's heart. Tell me, children, was it you?" she asked turning to face us with a sharp glare that made me shiver.

"Maleficent!" Flora hissed. So this was the witch who stole an innocent girl's heart!

"Only 'cause you stole it in the first place!" Ven yelled as he ran toward her and jumped ready to strike. She raised her arms and vanished in green flame. He landed and looked around quickly.

"A Keyblade... You must be Ventus." She cooed in a sickly sweet voice from above the throne.

"And you must be Lilac." She said looking at me.

"Huh? How do you know about us...and the Keyblade?" I questioned my voice wavering in fear.

"My powers ensure I'd know of the key to bringing me hearts. Terra gave me a demonstration." She said in a sickly sweet voice again.

"Terra? He was here?" Ven asked desperately.

"Why, yes. In fact, it was he who stole Princess Aurora's heart."

"That's a lie!" I yelled shaking my head. Terra would never do that! I hope? No! He would never! I summoned my keyblade and joined Ventus in the center.

"I was asked to leave you unharmed...but it seems I have no choice!" she hissed summoning some dark magic.

Merriweather gasps and the fairies use their wands to become balls of light. They entered the battlefield and helped us fight the evil witch. Afterward, Maleficent walked up a set of stairs, breathing heavily.

"There's no way Terra would hurt somebody like that!" Ven yelled. I nodded.

"You don't believe me? That's unfortunate, for he agreed so easily." I winced. Could Terra have actually done that? Was that possible?

"He did?" Ven asked.

"Ven! Lilac! Don't be fooled!" yelled a voice I knew too well.

"Aqua!" I gasped. Then I gulped we are so dead!

"Terra would never do that. You know that as well as I do." She said calmly.

"Yeah!" Ven agreed I smiled. How could I have doubted Terra!

"Ahh... The truth can be most cruel, even amongst the closest of friends. After all, one never knows the secrets of another's heart. I'm sure you'll agree... Ventus... Aqua… Lilac." She crooned. Causing us all to glare at her.

"The Master sent me." Aqua said to us.

"We are so dead." I whispered to Ven.

"No kidding." He whispered back.

"Guys... let's go home." She said.

"Terra's not ready to leave yet."

I wanted to say yes. So bad. Leave the monsters and go home who wouldn't want that? But I then remembered our encounter with the boy in the mask and I knew I couldn't leave. Not yet anyway.

"Sorry, Aqua. But I can't go with you." I said.

"What?"

"It's just...I have to find him before it's too late!" Ven answered running off with me close behind.

"Ven! Lilac!" Aqua yelled after us but it fell on depth ears.

"Terra, where are you?" I whispered as we flew off.


	10. Chapter 10

The Missing Tale

We were flying in the Land in Between. Looking around for a world to land on. I had the feeling we were being followed, but I didn't want to worry Ven, but whoever was following us had a dark heart a pitch black heart. All of a sudden a figure zoomed past us. It was the masked boy!

"Him again!" Ven hissed watching as he landed on another world.

"After him!" I yelled as we followed him. The world we landed on was barren and dead, no life anywhere. Darling ran off behind a rock sniffing. Had she found something?

"Where's he hiding?" Ven mumbled. The dark aura was coming from behind us I gasped and turned around.

"All right! What did you mean about Terra being a different person?" Ven demanded angrily.

"Exactly what I said, idiot. The Terra you know will be gone forever." He said in a bored tone. How can he talk like that! Like a life doesn't matter!

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" I yelled stomping my foot.

"Stupid or True." He awnsered holding out his arm ans summoning a…

"A Keyblade?" we gasped out staring. I growled and summoned my own.

"Good. Let's see what you're made of." He answered. I was going to enjoy this.

"Of course we can't have your sidekick interfering" he added creating a strong force that knocked me away from Ven causing me to yelp wen I landed on the ground,

"Guard." The boy drawled and a force field appeared around me.

"Lilac!" Ven yelled racing towards me. I banged on the walls but it was no use I was trapped.

"Ven!" I yelled. But I was to late the masked boy had already sliced at Ven knocking him away.

Ven laid on the ground to weak to get up.

"Cura!" I yelled but my magic couldn't reach him. No! Not Ven please not my best friend I prayed.

"That really all you got? Man, you are worthless." The masked boy said approaching Ven.

"Shut up!" I yelled. Summoning my keyblade and slashing at the walls with tears in my eyes.

"I'd be going against the Master's orders, but so what? As far as I'm concerned, your job here is done." Stated the boy. He gathered energy with his Keyblade and shoot a large blue orb at Ven. Still lying on the ground, it collides with him in a blaze of blue fire. The fire dissipates and the ground is scorched, but no body remains.

"No" I cried falling to my knees. Why?

"Don't worry! You're safe." I looked up shocked. Ven was alive! Next to him was a mouse who summoned a Keyblade and spins its point in the air, a holy light appeared at the end of it. And next to him was Darling. So that's what she smelled! A savior.

"Heal." The mouse called. Ven was then covered in a bright aura and woke up. The mouse made sure he was okay and whirled around to face the masked boy, an angry look on his face.

"Tell me where you got that!" The mouse demanded pointing at the devil child's keyblade.

"Keyblade's are not something you use just to bully somebody around! Here, I'll show ya!"

"We both will!" Ven declared standing beside him. The two worked together to fight the boy. Eventually Ven di what I thought was the finishing strike. The boy laid there on the ground. But then the boy leaped to his feet and they got ready for another attack.

"Humph, you win." The boy muttered opening a dark portal behind him.

"Consider yourself on probation." He walked backwards into the portal and it vanishes.

I touch the border to find it gone! I stood on shaky legs and raced towards Ven.

"Probation for what?" Ven muttered.

"Ven!" I shouted racing into his arms hugging him. Ven slowly returned the embrace. I gasped what the heck was I doing! I slowly backed away to see the both of us blushing.

"Eh hem. Thanks for before, I owe ya. The name's Lilac. And he's Ven. What's yours?" I asked hurriedly wanting to change the subject.

"I'm Mickey." The mouse chuckled.

"I see you've got a Keyblade." Ven asked with a red hue to his cheeks.

"Yep. I've been training' under the great Yen Sid. He found out the worlds are in trouble, an' I sorta took off without telling' him." He said rubbing his head sheepishly.

"Well, that makes both of us. We ran off, too." I admitted.

Mickey then took out a star-shaped stone

"All I hafta do is think it, and the Star Shard will take me anywhere I wanna go. At least I thought it would, I haven't quite got the fine points down, like...when, or where... It just kinda kicks in whenever it wants to. But I wouldn't have met you if it hadn't brought me here." He said happily. Causing us to laugh.

"Ya know, it might not be an accident. Maybe it starts working' 'cause it's reacting' to something'." The stone had started glowing and we looked at it in surprise. A bright light flashed and we covered our eyes. We found ourselves in the Lanes Between on our gliders. I turned around relived to find Ven floating there. Darling was in the basket but Mickey was nowhere in sight. I turned around shocked to find a new world.

"Do you think Mickey went down there?" I asked Ven.

"One way to find out." He said flying down.

We landed on the ground. It looked like the center of a large village. I turned and saw a duck with a cane walking around the Central Square. We turned and saw Mickey walking in an alley above.

"Mickey?" Ven asked racing after him.


	11. Chapter 11

The Missing Tale

This world was gorgeous! So full of life. And the flowers where pretty to! The only bad part was the Unversed. They were really powerful here. Everywhere we went Unversed, Unversed, and more Unversed! Can't we for once go to a world without anything that wants to kill us? Is that so much to ask?! We ended up following Mickey through the Gardens and onto the doorstep of the grand castle.

"Are you sure Mickey went this way?" I asked staring at the castle.

"How many large walking mice do you know?" he asked. I shrugged he had a point though I hate to admit it.

We ran up the stairs and saw two large men in uniform guarding a large door that lead to the castle. One with short brownish-red hair and the other with long black hair tied in a ponytail, their eyes are closed. Maybe we could just sneak past them?

We slowly approached trying not to wake them but right before we got to the door we were met with crossed swords. Great.

"Hold on." Said the one with black hair.

"The castle is presently closed." Said the other.

"But somebody just came this way! He's a friend of ours." I explained. The two guards stared at each other what they are hiding.

"We aren't aware of any visitors. Now run along home, boy, girl, before the monsters get you." I rolled my eyes if they only knew half of it.

"I coulda sworn it was him." Ven muttered. I patted his shoulder.

"Probably just another walking talking mouse." I giggled walking away. Ven chuckled before elbowing me in the gut. I looked up and my smile vanished an Unversed was right in front of us.

"They're here!" said one. The two guards step in front of us and toward the monster.

"Radiant Garden shall not fall under the likes of you."

Ven and I shared a look. Fighting Unversed was our job. Civilians weather they are guards or not don't stand a chance. We rushed past them.

"Leave this to us!" Ven declared as we chased after the monster.

"Stop!"

"But you're just a child!" I sighed it was true. I was only a child I hope no one else ever has to deal with the stuff I'm dealing with.

We chased the Unversed back to Central Square, where it is antagonizing an elderly duck with a cane. The one we saws earlier.

"Ach! How dare ye!? Back off, ye fiend!" he squawked and pointed his cane ant the creature.

"Ye'll not be gettin' my money!" really he was more concerned with the money than his own life? That is just plain sad.

"Look out!" I ordered as Ven through his keyblade aimed at the creature.

"Aye! I will!" he yelled clutching his hat while ducking.

The blade hit the Unversed and it falters for a bit, before floating off toward the Castle Town. We ran after it as the duck stares.

"Hold on... Wait a moment, laddie. And lassie." The duck said.

"Don't I even get a chance to repay ye." He conyinued.

"Oh, you don't have to." Ven said.

"Yeah it's what we do." I added we turned around to run.

"Now, just hold yer horses. I dinna mean me fortune." The duck squawked. I sighed the Unversed had left. If this geezer didn't stop talking we are never going to catch up!

"Maybe a wee bit o' gold, or a small token of..." he continued to ramble.

"Well, could ya make it fast?" I groaned. I didn't have time for this! It was a kind gesture but the Unversed was getting away!

"I know-I've just the thing in me hat!" he keeps treasures in his hat?

"Hmm?" Ven asked raising an eyebrow.

"C'mere." The duck said happily.

We walked up to him and he smiles slyly, covering part of his face with his hat. Creepy old duck.

"Ye can tell me, lad. You came here from another world, didn't ye?" I gasped and Ven gulped. We are so busted!

"Dinna worry. Me bill is sealed. Yer secret's safe with me. I'll not be askin' ye any awkward questions. Ye see, 'tis the same with me." Really! I never meet someone who wasn't from the world they were on originally.

"Huh?" Ven asked.

"I asked a wizard named Merlin to bring me here from another world. After all, adventure is the mother of industry!" he said chuckling.

"Great! That all?" I asked getting ready to bolt after the monster.

"Ach, but I'm holding ye up, lad." He said reaching into his hat. No kidding.

"Here These are lifetime passes to Disney Town. Ye'll have buckets o' fun there, or my name is not Scrooge McDuck." Scrooge said handing us four tickets.

"There y'are-enough for you two and two grown-ups." Ven took them and inspected them. Cool. Two adults huh?

"Huh..." I muttered taking my ticket.

"Come on Ven! The Unversed!" I shouted going after the floating Unversed into the Castle Town.

"Hang it all! Can't I get a moment's peace!?" shouted a voice from inside a house we were passing by. I turned to see an old man in a blue robe walk out of his house.

"Mister, get inside. It's not safe out here." Ven fretted.

"Oh, ordering me about-now that's unsafe. After all, I'm Merlin the Wizard."

"Oh ho... More scamps looking to wake the powers inside them, is that it?" what how could he…

"What? How'd you know?" Ven gasped.

"We wizards have a knack for knowing such things. The book is inside on the table. You may have a gander, if you like." He walked back inside and Ven lifted an eyebrow.

"What book?" he asked. I opened the door and walked to said book. Ven picked it up to take a look. A flash of light comes from its pages.

"Yikes." Ven gasped dropping the book.

"Maybe we should leave." I said dragging Ven away from the haunted book. We raced off toward the unversed by the time got there two others were already fighting it.

"Ven! Lilac!" They shouted oh my god is it? Could it be?

"Terra! Aqua!" we yelled back.

We summoned our Keyblade's and saw three large Unversed flying toward us. One of them rearranges itself into a pair of arms, and another into a pair of legs, which then join a head and torso to create the Trinity Armor. Together we took on the gigantic Unversed.

"Terra!" Aqua shouted as they ran at it from different sides.

"Ven! Now!" Terra ordered.

"C'mon!" Ven shouted. As Aqua jumped in the air and slashes downward at it. Terra and Ven then do the same and I sliced through the middle. The Unversed falls down defeated.

"Got 'im." Terra said.

"We make a good team." Aqua said smiling it was nice being to gether again.

"Sure do." Ven chuckled.

"Ven. Tickets." I whispered to him.

"Oh yeah! We got you these tickets." Ven said pulling them out.

"For what?" Terra asked.

"Lifetime passes to Disney Town." I said as Ven passed him a ticket.

"He said to-He said to take two grown-ups." Ven finished in a grumpy tone. Handing Aqua her ticket.

"You mean us?" Aqua asked sharing a look with Terra causing both of them to laugh.

"Listen to me, Ven, Lilac... We need to get you two home—"Aqua started but was interrupted by Ven.

"It's okay, Aqua. Trust me, that guy in the mask is history. He'll never bad-mouth Terra again." Ven chuckled. I wasn't so sure yes they knocked some sense into him but he was alive and he didn't seem too happy about losing.

"You saw the boy in the mask?" Terra said strongly gripping our shoulders. What was with him did something happen that we didn't know about?

"Y-yes?" I muttered surprised.

"Vanitas... Ven. You let Aqua take you home. You to Lilac." He ordered. What no! I have come too far to quit now!

"No way. I wanna go with you guys." Ven complained. And I nodded.

"You can't. We have a dangerous task ahead of us. I don't want you to get hurt." Terra replied.

"But-"I started.

"And what is this dangerous task, Terra? It doesn't sound like what the Master told you to do." Aqua reminded.

"It might be a different route, but I'm fighting the darkness." Terra replied.

"I'm not so sure. I've been to the same worlds as you and I've seen what you've done. You shouldn't put yourself so close to the darkness." I gasped. Had Aqua lost hope in Terra? Terra has a right find his own path!

"Listen to yourself, Aqua. Terra would never—" Ven shouted.

"You mean you've been spying on me? Is that what he said to do? The Master's orders?" Terra demanded with narrowed eyes.

"He was only—"Had the Master even lost hope?

"Aqua..." I said. Not to long ago she said to not lose hope in Terra! She is being a total hypocrite!

"I get it." Terra replied walking away.

"Terra!" Ven called as we started to follow him.

"Just stay put!" Terra yelled. I paused.

"I'm on my own now, all right?" He growled. I didn't know if he was telling us or himself.

"Terra, please! Listen! The Master has no reason to distrust you, really! He was just worried." Aqua pleaded but she was ignored because Terra continued to leave.

"You're awful, Aqua." Ven said.

"So now you know the truth. But the Master loves Terra, and you know that too." That's what you said last time too.

"Were you also "ordered" to take me home?" Ven asked and was answered with silence.

"Aqua... Now that you're a Keyblade Master, you've let it go to your head. I'm gonna go find Terra." Ven said running off I followed but paused and faced Aqua.

"Aqua. You know that light and darkness are equal. So just as much as one can fall into darkness, one can be consumed by light. Terra can use darkness it's his right, just as it is our right to find our path." I said before catching up to Ven. I sighed. One friend was getting to close to the darkness, one was consumed by light, and the other… was too naïve to understand what was going on.

We returned to the Central Square. I gasped a small boy was surrounded by Unversed. I charged forward.

"Run!" Ven order starting to take out the Unversed. I grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the danger,

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked kneeling down to his height.

"No." he whispered. He must be terrified.

"Hey it's okay. Look they're gone." I said taking his hand and leading him back to Ven.

"Ienzo, where are you? Answer me." Called a voice. The boy was curled up at my side, but walked away when a man with long blond hair approached us.

"Ah, there you are. Didn't I warn you not to wander off, child?" he said to Ienzo before turning to us.

"I see we owe you our thanks. We have done our best to raise the boy...since his poor parents are not here to do it." I looked at the boy's blue eyes. I knew exactly how that felt.

"Oh. You're on your own, huh?"

"Ven! I hissed" stomping on his foot. That was so insensitive!

"Ow! ...Sir, I'm looking for a friend of mine. He's a tall guy dressed kinda like me-have you seen him?" Ven asked glaring daggers at me.

"Hmm... Perhaps I did see him in the Outer Gardens. Just follow this road." He explained.

"Thank you." I said

"Thank you." Ven added.

"No, thank you, for keeping Ienzo out of harm's way. And... Well, let's say I have a feeling we are destined to cross paths again." He said smirking. Before he and Ienzo left.

"Okay he's creepy." Ven whispered.

"No kidding."

We rushed to the Outer Gardens and saw Terra.

"Terra!" We yelled. We approached him smiling.

"Take me with you!" Ven pleaded.

"I can't do that, Ven." Terra answered. I sighed.

"Why not?" Ven complained.

"I just- When I really need you, Ven. I know you'll be there. You too Lilac." He responded.

"Well, why wouldn't I? You're my friend." I said smirking.

"Yeah. You're right. Thanks, Ven. Lilac." He smiled. Then he left and I watched him leave for the second time that day.

"We'd better tell Aqua." Ven said. I nodded and we rushed off to find her. She was standing in the central square.

"Aqua!" Ven yelled

"Lilac. Ven. Were you able to find him?" she asked.

"Yeah, but... He's gone." I said sadly.

"Right. Then I can't stay here." She concluded.

"Let me go with you, Aqua." Ven begged.

"No, Ven. Do as I say and go home." She said sternly almost yelling but not quit.

"Why won't you let me?" Ven said sighing and looking down.

"I don't want to put you in harm's way." She said putting her hands on our shoulders.

"You understand?" she asked pulling away.

She engaged her armor and walked past us as we continues to stare at the ground. She took her glider and left Radiant Garden. I sighed sitting down next to Ven on a flower bed. I remember the first time I actually connected with Aqua. Before she changed.

I had just arrived in the Land of Departure. I had only been there a week and I couldn't sleep. It was incredibly dark and it was thundering and lightning. I was petrified of thunderstorms and Xayomi wasn't here to make me feel better. I yelped as another slap of thunder sounded. I crawled out of my bed and clutched my blanket tightly around me. I walked down the hall way to Aqua's room. I shyly knocked on the door. Aqua opened the door rubbing her eyes. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt and dark blue pants with moons on them.

"Lilac?" she asked tiredly, but woke up when she saw me crying.

"Lilac, honey what's wrong?" she asked. A loud thunder clap interrupted me and I screamed.

"Oh scared of thunder storms." She murmured.

I shyly nodded. She gave me a friendly smile.

"Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" she offered smiling sweetly. I shyly nodded smiling.

"Come on then." She cooed. Showing me her bed. She crawled in first and held the covers so I could crawl in next to her. I whimpered as another thunder banged. But, calmed down when Aqua pulled me in her arms and started to rock me softly singing to me.

_"__Baby mine, don't you cry. Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine..." _And before I knew it I was asleep_. _

The memory ended with a jolt. I looked over to see Ven staring at his wooden keyblade he obtained from Terra. He started spinning the blade a few times in his hand, until dropping it. It fell a few feet away at the bottom of a stairway. Next to two boys walking.

"Huh?" said a boy with red hair. He picked it up, swinging it around a bit. He smirked and looked over at Ven.

"This yours?" he asked. Ven did nothing but nod.

"Lea, we don't have time for this." Complained his companion.

"Lighten up, Isa. It'll only take a sec." he waved him off walking over to Ven.

"You still play with toy swords? That's cute." Lea chuckled holding the toy out toward him, hilt first. Ven grunted and I remained silent this kid was so annoying. And Lea tossed the blade away. He better be careful with that!

"Now this right here—"he paused pulling out two Frisbees. "Tada! Whaddaya think?"

"Not a whole lot." Ven remarked in a bored tone.

"They look like badly painted dinner plates." I said shrugging.

"You're just jealous. I'm Lea. Got it memorized? What's your name?" he said tapping his temple.

"Ventus."

"And her?" Lea asked.

"'Her' can speak for herself. And the names Lilac." I snapped. This kid was asking for a punch.

"Okay, Ventus. Let's fight!"

"Fight? Why would I wanna do that?" Wow. Ven must really be down if he doesn't want to spar.

"You scared of losing? C'mon." Lea said childishly.

"Hope you're ready." He said jumping a few paces back.

Ven thought for a minute and gives a small laugh, smiling and standing up. I smiled happy to see Ven back to his old self.

"Yeah! Now we're talkin'."

"You're gonna be sorry!" Ven laughed reading the keyblade.

I walked past them and stood by Isa.

"Hi. I'm Lilac."

"Isa" the boy said.

"No offense. But is your friend always like that?" I asked.

"Lea? Yep 24-7 never stops." He muttered. I chuckled.

"Well at least you know who your friends are." I muttered watching the fight.

They faced each other and charged in for a fight. Afterward, Lea falls to the ground, panting.

"You...had enough? 'Cause I'm willing to...call it a draw if you are."

"Huh? Right..." Ven said chuckling. I gave him a high five.

"From where I stood, the only thing you drew was a big L on your forehead for "Loser," "Lame," "Laughable"..." Isa commented.

"Wha-Isn't this the part where ya...cheer me up for somethin'?" You're just havin' a bad day," or... "That's what you get for pullin' your punches!"" Lea complained sighing. "Some friend."

"Oh, you mean I was supposed to lie." Isa asked.

"Ya see what I gotta put up with?" Lea commented flopping on the ground "Sure hope you don't have friends like him." He complained

Lea smiled causing Ven and I to start laughing, making Lea and Isa laugh also.

"Lea, we have to go." Isa chuckled.

"'Kay." Lea said standing up.

"Already?" Ven said sadly. I admit I was sad that we couldn't spend more time together.

"I'll see ya when I see ya. After all, we're friends now. Get it memorized."

"Okay, Lea." And he left. Ven sighed. "Must be nice... knowin' who your friends are." Ven chuckled. I frowned.

"Aqua did tell us to go home." Ven's smile dropped.

"But she never said when." Ven's head shoot up with a smile. And we were off again.


	12. Chapter 12

The Missing Tale

We decided to travel to Disney Town. We entered the town, gazing at the colorful buildings, noting an ice cream shop to our left.

"Tada!" I jumped back as a large figure jumps down in front of us. It faces away in a bright outfit, with a red cape.

"Wearin' the mask of peace and hope..." He swirled around "...comes the fearless defender and hero of this town! It is me-Captain Justice!" he? Declared striking a pose. Okay weirdo alert.

"Huh? Umm..." I muttered backing away slowly. By my feet Darling growled at the masked figure.

"Young fellow! Do my hero-senses detect that you got troubles? Just say the word, and Captain Justice will make all your problems disappear!" He declared staring at us.

"Uhh...Wh-who, me?" Ven stuttered. The figure simply nodded.

"I'm just trying to make some friends-Never mind, forget it." Ven said sadly. I sighed I highly doubt that anyone would be able to solve our troubles.

"Don't be intimidated by my magnificence. Go on and spit it out. Then...remember to vote Captain J." "Captain Justice" said.

"Vote?" I questioned seemed to me that this guy was trying to get something out of helping others.

"Oh! Well, uh, forget that." He corrected himself. "How can I help? That's the only reason I'm here." Yeah I'm sure.

"Hmm... I know! Tell me about your town. Everything's so festive. Is it always like this?" Ven asked.

"Huh? That's it-nothin' else? Well, the festivities are on account of the Dream Festival-which is why I've made sure there's carnival stuff all over town." Okay now that did sound cool.

"Really? Like what?" I asked excitedly.

"Ho ho, you gotta see it for yourself. Wouldn't be much of a dream if I just told ya." True enough.

"Right. Thanks." Ven said.

"And kid, don't you go forgettin'... Captain Justice is the one who solved all your problems. That would be Justice with a J!" Okay back to him wanting something.

"Uh, sure. I got it, Captain Justice." I said.

"Aww, phooey! This stinks! Now we can't open the ice cream shop!" We heard a yell from the ice cream shop. We looked over to see three small ducks in various color outfits, and a mouse dressed in a regal pink dress.

"Trouble? Rescue is on the way!" Captain Justice shouted running towards them.

"A festival, huh? Well, maybe we can make some new friends." Ven said cheerfully.

"Maybe. But I want to check out that Captain Justice figure. Something's strange about him." I said watching him.

"You mean how he fit in that outfit?" Ven asked causing me to burst out laughing.

"No! I meant why he is helping people. He mention votes. I'm just curious." I explained giggling.

"Fair enough." Ven said walking over to the group.

"Well, if it ain't the last kid Captain Justice Saved. 'Fraid you'll have to get in line. I'm working on another catastrophe here for these fellas-Huey..." The red duck turns to face us. "Dewey..." The blue duck turns...and Louie," The green duck turns. "My good friends."

"Now, I'd hardly call it a catastrophe." Said the mouse.

"Yeah, all we were tryin' to do was make our own special recipe ice cream." Started Huey.

"And we had a little trouble." Continued Dewey.

"Come on, it's not really that big a deal." Louie finished. Did they talk like that all the time?

"I'm 100% positive you're the victims of sabotage!" Captain Justice ranted.

"Not even close! Quit makin' stuff up." Dewey Complained.

"It's just the ice cream machine." Louie explained

"Unca Scrooge left it for us...but we can't figure out how it works 'cause it's so complicated." Huey said sadly. Wait could their uncle be the same Scrooge who gave us the passes?

"Aw, we're sorry, Queen Minnie. We wanted you to be the first to try our special recipe ice cream." Dewey said sadly.

"Oh boys, it was very sweet of you to think of me." Queen Minnie soothed.

"We tried." Louie agreed but he still sounded disappointed.

"Say no more. Leave it to me-one bowl of ice cream comin' right up!" Captain Justice said.

"You're just gonna make a mess. Leave it alone, Pete!" Pete? Was that his real name?

"That's Captain Justice!" He stomped the ground, making the ducks jump. He tried out the ice cream machine, but only managed to get scoops of various flavors and colors all over the dancing stage.

"This machine is busted. It just needs a good poundin'..." said the frustrated "Pete" Then he started hitting it with his fist! He's going to break it!

"It does not!" The Queen cried.

"Hey, do you think I could give it a shot?" Ventus offered.

"Or me?" I asked.

"No, if Captain Justice can't fix it, there ain't nothin' you can do, kids."

"Maybe not, but there's no harm in trying." Ven answered.

"Yeah! And better you than him. Here ya go. These are the directions for the machine." Stated Huey. He walked up to Ventus and handed him the directions. We got the machine to work with Huey, Dewey, and Louie's help.

"Mmm, how yummy. What a wonderful treat! I don't think I've ever had such delicious ice cream. Thank you-uh, oh, oh dear..."m The Queen trailed off.

"Oh, Ventus. Just Ven is fine."

"And I'm Lilac."

"Well, thank you, Ventus. Lilac." The Queen said smiling.

"Way to go, Ven and Lilac!" cheered Huey.

"I see... We had to push this thingamajig the other way." Declared Louie.

"Hey, I just got an idea! We could let our customers make up their own favorite flavors of ice cream!" Dewey exclaimed as they hoped off the machine.

"Not with that machine! Well... The kids mighta got it to work this one time. But junk like that needs to get junked!" Pete declared about to destroy the machine! Not on my watch!

"Don't you dare, Pete!" Ordered the Queen. Ven and I readied ourselves in front of the machine.

"Fine. But Captain Justice will return!" he declared running out.

"About "Captain Justice"-you said his name is Pete?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's the biggest troublemaker in town!" Huey declared angrily.

"I bet he's just callin' himself Captain Justice 'cause he wants to win the Million Dreams Award." Dewey offered.

"What's the Million Dreams Award?" Ven asked.

"That's one of the Dream Festival events. Everyone votes for who they think is the town's most exemplary citizen." The Queen explained.

"I get it. So that's what he meant by "vote."" Ven said.

"I told you he was up to something." I pointed out.

"And if ya win the award, ya get a really cool prize!" Louie continued.

"Oh, it's just a small token, nothing elaborate. The event is supposed to help us appreciate how much we all look out for each other every day. That's the spirit of the award." The Queen explained.

"Well, that sounds nice enough..." Ven said.

"Pete just wants to get his grubby hands on the prize." Huey said.

"And he knows that nobody's gonna vote for him if he puts his own name on the ballot!" Dewet continued.

"But nobody's fooled!"

"Yeah!" The three ducks laughed.

"Wish somebody was looking' out for me." Ventus murmured.

"Hey! What about me! Have you forgotten our promise?" I asked.

"Oh yeah." Ven remembered smiling. When I first arrived in the Land of Departure Ven and I had stuck together like glue. One day we decided to make a promise. That we will always be together and to always watch out for each other. We then started to walk around the fair. After a while we split up to go look at things that interested us. When I found Ven he had won a game and had received his prize.

"Hey Ven what's up?" I asked

"L-Lilac? Nothing! Nothing at all." Ven rushed hiding something behind his back. I was going to question him further. But a hoarse whose name I learned was Horace came up to us.

"Hey guys they are announcing the winners come on!" he declared shoving us along. The citizens of the town gathered at the stadium in the Main Plaza, waiting for the festival to begin.

"Who do you think's gonna win this year's Million Dreams Award?" Horace asked.

"Boy oh boy! I hope it's the guy I voted for!" Chip declared.

"I voted for him, too!" Dale laughed.

"Now that we got so much business at the shop, maybe we'll be number one!" Huey said to his brothers.

"Wow, Unca Scrooge sure would be proud of us if we actually won!" Dewey thought.

"Yeah, and I bet Unca Donald would be pretty surprised, too." Louie agreed. Queen Minnie arrived on stage with Daisy Duck.

"Hello, everyone, and thank you for waiting. Now, it's time to begin the main event of our Dream Festival-the Million Dreams Award presentation."

I saw Pete standing in the gazebo wearing his Captain Justice uniform and crossing his arms.

"Heh! Just skip to the part where you say my name. This is a shoo-in!" he muttered. He better shut up or he is getting a pop in the nose.

"Oh, how very exciting! This year we have multiple winners. The Million Dreams Award goes to...Ventus, Aqua, Lilac, and Terra. All four of you!" the Queen announced as the citizens cheered.

"You mean Aqua and Terra were here?" I asked hopefully. Blushing from all the attention I was getting.

"Whaddaya mean!?" Pete yelled getting onstage.

"There's gotta be a mistake. Everybody voted for Captain Justice. I made sure! Now, go on, tell her!" he ordered turning to the crowd who said nothing, frustrating Pete.

"Better try the other one..." he muttered. He walked off stage and changed costumes in a flash.

"The rogue racer, Captain Dark!" He strikes a pose, but the crowd is disinterested. Man he is trying way to hard.

"Pete, we counted the votes very carefully. Ventus, Aqua, Lilac and Terra won. Oh, Pete, I think you tried to do something good, but you were doing it for the wrong reasons, and you went about it the wrong way. Still, a couple of citizens must have thought you had goodness in you, because you actually got a few votes. They knew you were looking out for them." Queen Minnie declared happily.

"Big whoop! I don't need their lousy votes. Just cough up my prize!" he yelled reaching toward her.

"Pete!" she yelled causing him to stop.

"They voted for you because they believe in you and care about you. How could you look down on that? I've tried to forgive a lot of things you've done, but this is too much. Now you've finally crossed the line." She hissed glaring daggers.

"Like that matters to me. Besides, what are you gonna do about it?" he mocked.

"Ha! I'm gonna let you cool off for a while. Guards!" she called. I looked over and saw a large group of walking brooms coming toward us. They walked onto the stage and circled Pete"

"W-wait, what?" Pete gasped as they closed in around him and lifted him off the ground.

"Hey! Let me go! Put me down! What!? No, you can't-no, no, no-hey, easy! Ow!" He shouted as they carried him offstage and out of the plaza. I couldn't help but smirk. He got what de deserved.

"Now, shall we continue the ceremony? Would the four winners, Ventus, Aqua, Lilac and Terra, please come up and join me on the stage?" Me and Ven walked up onto the stage. I looked around for Terra and Aqua.

"Oh dear, it looks like our other two winners couldn't make it here to be with us today."

I sighed "We must have just missed them." Ven said sadly.

"Perhaps you two could accept the award on their behalf. After all, you've been so kind to so many here at the Dream Festival. So now, I hereby present the Million Dreams Award as a token of how much you matter to us. Congratulations!"

"Thank you, everyone." I said blushing.

"Thanks" Ven answered.

"And as an extra treat, we've created something special-an ice cream flavor just for you. Double Crunch ice cream!" she said hold out two bowls of pink ice cream.

"Oh my, I wish I had my own ice cream flavor!" Horace said

"What's it taste like?"

"Go on, try it!"

I licked my lips and used my spoon to take a bit while Ben went savage and just took a bite. It was delicious! Absolutely fantastic.

"What do you think?" Queen Minnie asked.

"Delicious! You did an amazing job!" I said.

"Mm! Wow. It's great!" Ven agreed. I chuckled he was so cute! Wait? What?

"We're all very glad you're enjoying it." Said the queen laughing. The crowd cheered. Once we finished our ice cream we decide we better leave. So off we went.


	13. Chapter 13

The Missing Tale

We traveled to a world called Olympus Coliseum. We landed in a town surrounded by pillared buildings and statues. We had just arrived when a satyr ran behind us, huffing and puffing, as if running away from something?

" Huh? Is he okay?" I asked.

"Maybe an Unversed is chasing him!" Ven declared.

"Oy, the kid's relentless!" The goat man whined hiding behind a barrel.

"Well at least it's not an Unversed." I said.

"Maybe we should check on him." I said watching the goat huff and puff.

"Yeah before he has a stroke." Ven added looking freaked out.

"Hey, whatcha doin' there?" I asked kneeling down to the satyr's height.

I backed up a step when the satyr jumped up screaming. Jeez someone needs to take a chill pill.

"I told ya, I'm booked solid. N-O spells forget it! Huh? And who in Halicarnassus are you? Can't you see I'm busy?" he said looking at us. Wow! Has that guy turned the corner.

"Hey, Phil! I'm all signed up! Phil!" shouted a young man in a toga with a broad and eager smile on his face running over.

"All right, Herc. I hear ya! Now would ya keep it down already." Shushed the satyr.

"Aha!" shouted a young voice.

"Beautiful.. You happy now? You blew my cover!"

"Man somebodies grumpy." Ven whispered.

"Okay, 'fess up. I asked around and everybody says you're the guy. The trainer of heroes!" explained a young soldier who had run over.

"True heroes!" "Herc" added.

"Really? You can teach that?" I questioned. Didn't a hero have to find their own path, not taught?

"'Course he can. C'mon, Phil, please. I really wanna be a hero." Whined the soldier. Flattery never works kid trust me.

"Look, we've been through this... I got two words for you-student-teacher ratio!"

"One, two... Um?" Ven said counting on his figures. I almost swooned. He was so cute! Stop it Lilac!

"I already got my hands full with this one. C'mon, Herc." Phil said starting to leave with Herc.

"I'm low-maintenance, I swear!" the soldier pleaded.

I jumped back as a group of Unversed appeared from the ground in front of Hercand Phil.

"Unversed!" Ven yelled.

"Not again." I groaned.

"Monsters, huh..." the soldier said a little to happily.

We ran toward the group.

"Hey Phil! Watch this! I'll show ya what I'm made of." The soldier cheered.

"And I'll help, too!" Herc offered.

Phil ran out of the fray and the four of us battled the Unversed. We walked over to Phil and stood before him, Herc was catching his breath. Ven happily put his hands behind his head. I sighed was I getting too used to this?

"Okay... Change of plans." Phil said sighing. The soldier laughed happily.

"The Games are comin' up. So, I'm gonna watch both of your matches...then I'll decide which of you rookies I wanna train." Phil explained.

"Sweet! Thank you, thank you! I'm gonna go sign up right now." The soldier cheered racing off.

"The Games, huh? Sounds fun!" Ven cheered beginning to follow him. I shrugged and started after him.

"Sorry kid, Captain Eager there just took the last spot." Phil said. Ven paused looking disappointed.

"I don't understand! Phil, I thought you were my trainer!" Herc argued.

"You wanna be a true hero, Herc? Then you're gonna hafta go out there and show me that everything I've taught you so far is gonna pay off." Phil said walking back to the Coliseum.

"But Phil..." Herc started.

"Oh...and no more trainin' sessions for a while. Wouldn't be fair if I helped you and not him." Phil added. Wow what a jerk. I felt bad for Herc. Herc lowered his head in disappointment.

"Hey, cheer up! So you gotta fight a couple of matches, no big deal. I'm Ventus. Want me to help you train?" Ven offered excitedly. I rolled my eyes leave it to Ven to help out a stranger.

"You'd really do that for me?" Herc asked surprised.

"Sure."

"Hey! Don't leave me out! I'll help too! I'm Lilac by the way."

"Thanks, Ventus. Lilac. I'm Hercules. Herc for short." He said holding out his hand.

"Just call me Ven. You're gonna do fine." He said shaking Hercules's hand. Then I shaking his hand.

"Thanks. I'm gonna head over to the Coliseum and warm up. Meet me in the vestibule, okay?" He walked to the Coliseum.

"Come on lets catch up!" Ven said as we followed him.

"Ready for some training?" Herc asked.

"Let's get started!"

"Bring it!"

With Hercules at our side we trained for a while, breaking urns to score points. At one point I caught Phil watching us from the stands. But as soon as I did he turned and walked off. After our training, we returned to the Vestibule.

"You wanna become a true hero, huh?" I asked.

"More than anything. See, my father is Zeus, the king of the gods up on Olympus." Herc explained like it was no big deal.

"Whoa! Herc, you're a god?" Ven asked shocked.

"No, no. I'm mortal. When I was a baby, somebody stole me from my parents, and...figured out how to take away my godhood." He replied sadly.

"And this true hero thing?" I asked.

"It's the only way I can become a god again. If I become a true hero, I can rejoin my father and go back to Olympus." He explained walking over to a gold trophy on the wall.

"Wow... I guess you really got your work cut out for you!" I chuckled.

"But what about you? How come you're here?" he asked.

"I'm...I'm just trying to make some friends." Ven said sadly.

"Well, hey! You've done that already." Herc said happily.

"Huh?"

"C'mon, we're friends, aren't we?" Herc asked.

"You bet, Herc." Ven said chuckling. I turned to see the soldier walking in.

"All right, you bunch of rookies." Phil said walking in from the Coliseum.

"It's time we go over the rules of the Games, so listen up. All the matches are divided into two brackets-one for the East and one for the West. The winners from each bracket go head-to-head in the championship match. Now, I signed you two up for the West...'cause they already got a heavy-hittin' contender cleanin' up over there in the East bracket. And if you wanna beat him, you're gonna hafta hustle in there. Now move those sandals." He chuckled. We watched Phil, Herc, and the soldier walk into the Coliseum.

"Heavy-hitting contender?" Ven asked looking at me. I shrugged. I had no idea but it did not sound good.

"Lilac! Ven! C'mon!" Herc called.

"Oh. Okay!" Ven answered.

We sat on the stands as Hercules and the soldier fought through several matches and earned generous applause.

"Guess we made it!" Ven cheered as we meet up with Hercules.

"Yeah. And it's all thanks to you, Ven and Lilac." Herc said happily. I smiled I was happy I well Ven decided to help him.

"Good! The other kid'll be happy to hear that." Phil replied coldly. Man who twisted his antlers?

"No! I need you most of all, Phil! How else am I gonna become a hero?" Herc rushed out

"Hmph! 'Bout time ya got it!" He said walking away as the soldier runs in.

"Whoever wins, no hard feelings." As he and Herc shook hands.

"Course not. Holdin' a grudge wouldn't be very heroic." Herc added cheerfully.

"Hey, just making sure. You're not a hero yet." The soldier corrected.

"True." He said chuckling.

They readied themselves in the stadium. Hercules lunges at the soldier for a punch. The soldier dodged backwards and jumped into the air, sword raised. Hercules gasped and jumped away from the blow. He tries another slash and Herc dodged to the side and moved in for another punch.

"This is really close." Ven said in awe. I nodded.

Watching them battled made me remember watching Aqua and Terra battle. Before we all fell apart.

"Hey! We got trouble! There's monsters loose in town and if they gate-crash the Games, you can forget about the match." Phil shouted.

"Real monsters?" Herc gasped.

"We have to stop 'em." The soldier demanded.

"Leave the monsters to us. This match is too important!" Ven yelled. I have a weird sense of dejavu. We ran out of the Coliseum to the town, where we saw a group of Unversed.

"You won't get past me!" I shouted. I looked up and gasped an enormous horde of Unversed were floating in from above. I watched the sky as they poured in from all sides. We stood frozen, trying to form a plan. When Hercules ran in.

"Herc! What about your match?" Ven cried.

"Forget the match. No way could I let my friends fight alone. 'Cause I'm a hero! I mean, ya know...I'm gonna be one. Come on, let's finish this together!" he said happily. Together we defeated the Unversed.

"Sorry that we made you lose that match, Herc." I really did feel bad. This was so important to him.

"Aw, come on, you don't have to apologize. It was totally my decision."

An Unversed flew up behind Hercules. I gasped. But then the soldier came in and sliced it in half.

"What, you didn't save any for me?" he asked cockily.

"Hey, you're here?" Herc asked.

"Hey, I've set my sights on being a hero, too. I just don't run as fast, that's all." He admitted.

"So you both threw the match? Who won, then?" Ven asked.

"I left first, so it's not me." Herc said.

"Yeah, but I was only seconds behind you." The other argued.

"Still."

"Hey! I never said I'd coach the winner. All I said was I'd see the match, then decide. Look, bein' a hero takes more than just muscle. Ya gotta have heart and care about people. And sure, you both get high marks for that. But this time, only one of you cared fast enough-and that makes all the difference." Phil said as he entered.

"Then that means..." I said happily.

"Oh man, I was this close!" The soldier complained.

"Well, that's life." He said sighing. He turned to Hercules.

"I never really introduced myself." He took off his helmet, revealing his spiky black hair.

"The name's Zack. Congratulations, Herc." That was nice of him. Good sportsmanship.

"Thanks, Zack." Herc said,

"Yeah, well, we'll see if you're still thankin' him when I'm through with ya. You got a long road ahead of ya, champ." Phil added.

"Hey-don't count me out. I've still got plenty of big dreams to go with my lousy luck!" Zack added doing squats.

I chuckled causing the boys to laugh.

"Okay, be honest... You weren't really gonna stop training Herc, were you?" Ven asked Phil while the boys where distracted.

"Of course not. I know that kid's gonna go the distance. But he was stuck in a rut. He just needed a little...incentive. It's, uh, Ventus, right? And Lilac? Well, thanks to you, Herc here has really shaped up. I owe ya." Phil explained

"Nah, I'm glad. I made a really good friend. Somebody to share a laugh with. Like Terra and Aqua... We'll patch things up." I said giving Ven a knowing smile.

"Well we better head out." "Yeah" He said as we started to leave.

"You're leaving?" Herc asked.

"Yeah. My journey's not over yet." Ven explained.

"And neither is mine."

"But you'll visit, right?" Herc asked hopefully.

"I'll stop by once you're a true hero." I promised.

"Stop by once me and him are both heroes!" Zack interrupted.

"Oh, Lilac I think he is saying he wants us to never come bad." Ven said smiling.

"Ah what a shame." I giggled. Zack ran up to us wrapping his arms around our shoulders.

"Hey, watch it!" He laughed.

We smiled and laughed, along with Phil and Hercules. I smiled friends where nice.


	14. Chapter 14

**I own nothing! **

The Missing Tale

While in the Lanes of Between we had come across a ship flying and decided to check it out. We were just walking when a giant…I don't even know what he was! Appeared before us.

"So you're the intruders. Identify yourselves." He ordered aiming his laser gun at us. Well I bet he is just the life of the party!

"My name is Ventus. The monster we were chasing boarded your ship." Ven explained.

"And I'm Lilac. Did your mother ever tell you it's rude to point guns at people?" I asked.

"Nice try. If there was another intruder aboard, we'd have detected it." He said in a snarky attitude. There was a rattling and the big dummy looked around, confused, aiming his weapon too his left.

"Intruder in the machinery bay! We lost control of the engines! I-it's some kind of monster!" someone shouted from the intercom.

"Told ya so." I remarked to myself.

"Now you tell me!" The other hissed turning around.

"Stay right there! I have lots of unpleasant questions to ask you." He growled before leaving.

"I say we let him get eaten." I said.

"This is our fault. We have to do something." Ven argued.

"Ug. Fine. I'll do the right thing." I mimicked Ven's voice. We began to run after the idiot when a … blue, fuzzy, creature fell in front of us. We watched him, as he stood up, showing his four arms.

"Ven...? Lilac? Terra... Ah-koo, wah..." he muttered.

"What? You know Terra and Aqua?" Ven asked.

I watched as the creature took out a star-shaped charm.

"Fren... Circle!" He cheered.

"Friend Circle?" I asked. That is something Aqua would say. She was here!

"Hey...is that a Wayfinder?" Ven asked. All of a sudden the ship shook. I yelped looking around.

"The engines are under too much stress. We're risking an explosion!" yelled the voice over the intercom.

"What are we doing? There's no time!" Ven yelled. We started to run, but I noticed the creature following us on all sixes.

"No! You need to stay here. It's too dangerous." I ordered. I couldn't let someone get hurt especially someone who was a friend of my friends. I turned and left with Ven following close behind. I felt a pain of guilt when the creature whimpered, but it was for the best.

"I'll go wait with him to make sure he's okay." I said to Ven. He nodded heading back the way we were going.

I ran ahead and saw the creature causing trouble.

"End of the line!" I heard Ven yell.

Then an explosion sounded and the creature landed in front of us.

"Hey! You shouldn't be here." I yelled.

The experiment snarls at the Unversed and yelled something in an alien language.

"What is it?" Ven asked.

He yelled more unintelligible words and we fought the Unversed. Once it was defeated, the experiment continued yelling.

"It's over! Cut it out!" Ven gasped trying to restrain the screaming experiment, but it knocked him down.

"Whoa!" Ven yelled.

"Ven?" I asked worried running after him.

"You okay?" I asked. I only received a nod.

The experiment caught his breath and stopped.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked at Ven's side.

He turned around, holding the shards of his Wayfinder, his ears pointed down to the floor sadly.

"Mee myuu nana."

"I see... Your Wayfinder broke. Well, don't worry. Friendship's more than an object." I said kneeling by him.

"Fren-ship... Cir...cle?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded. I whirled around to see the big dummy walking in. I bet he was the one who broke it!

"Hmph, don't let the little mimic fool you." He mocked.

"You saw for yourself what kind of monster that thing is. All it knows how to do is hurt and destroy."

"Why don't you look in the mirror to see a real monster." I snarled.

"Monster? He helped me stop the monster!" Ven argued.

"You must have triggered some sort of mutation hidden in the little freak's genetic coding."

"Lilac. Ven. Frens!" the creature said.

"That's right. We are friends!" Ven agreed summoning his weapon.

"Better say your good-byes now, because 626 is about to be destroyed!" I gasped no way!

He aims his laser gun at the experiment, who jumps onto big dummies' face, growling.

"Stop that!" he yelled trying to shake him off. He falls over and Experiment 626 fliped off of him.

"Eeja gababa!" he hissed.

"C'mon!" I yelled. We have to get out of here!

We ran out of the room and the giant sat up.

"Sound the alert! Prisoners on the loose! Don't let them get away!" he yelled.

We summoned our gliders and the experiment "borrowed" a red cruiser. We zoomed away as various police cruisers rushed after us, trying to gun us down with their lasers. I flew up to his window.

"Where are we going?" I yelled over the noise as Ven flew behind me. The experiment pulled a lever from the dashboard.

"Hyper drive has been activated. System charging. Warning. Guidance is not functional." The computer spoke. The experiment looked around frantically. My eyes widened what was going on?

"Navigation failure. Do not engage hyper drive. Repeat. Do not engage—"the computer warned. He pushed the handle back in as the police cruisers surround him. Uh oh!

"Break formation! Get clear!" shouted the police scattering.

"Eega beega bagajeeba!" the experiment yelled at us.

"What is it? What's going on?" Ven asked.

"Eega jugee baba!" he warned. My eyes widened.

"Get back!" I yelled at Ven, but it was too late his cruiser shot forward, knocking us off balance.

I yelped as I was knocked of my glider and into space. The last thing I saw was Ven's armored body then my world went black.


End file.
